Semi-solids, namely, a mush of bread and milk, descended in the same
way as solids; but the rate was slightly faster in the upper œsophagus,
for the bolus took about a second less to reach the cardiac level. From
here the rate was the same as with solids.
For liquids, one and a half to two seconds sufficed for the descent to
the midheart region. Here there often occurred a long pause, from a few
seconds to a minute or more. Then the œsophagus apparently contracted
above the liquid, which slowly passed on to the stomach, as already
described. Sometimes it seemed as if a swallowing movement, evidenced
by a rise of the larynx, started the peristaltic wave. Again, several
swallows would succeed one another before the liquid passed on. A few
times the bismuth and milk seemed strung out along the œsophagus;
some more liquid descending would gather this up, and the whole mass,
assuming an ovoid form, would move into the stomach.
Thus in the cat the total time for deglutition varies from nine to
twelve seconds. The lowest section presents no change ascribable to a
difference in consistency, while in the upper sections the rate does
slightly increase with the more liquid character of the food.
In experiments on the dog, bismuth enclosed in capsules or wrapped in
shreds of meat was fed as the solid. The general phenomena were as
follows: With the rise of the larynx there was a quick, propulsive
movement of the bolus, which descended rapidly for a few centimetres,
sometimes as far as the clavicle. From this point the rapidity
was diminished, yet no pause was observed; the bolus simply moved
more slowly. This rate was then continued to the stomach without a
slackening of speed in the diaphragmatic region, as was observed in the
cat. Semi-solids moved in the same way as solids. The total time of
descent from larynx to stomach was from four to five seconds.
Liquids gave even a more decided squirt in the beginning of the
movement. To render the œsophagus as lax and free as possible, the
head of the dog was released from the upright rods and held by the
hands after the food was placed in the mouth. Sometimes the liquid
descended rather rapidly as far as the heart, at other times no further
than the clavicle; then without a pause it passed on slowly and
regularly, reaching the stomach in about the same time as solids and
semi-solids.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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