THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF GASTRIC SECRETION

Since the year 1870, when Heidenhain 1 discovered the chief (hauptzellen) and distinguished them from the parietal (belegzellen) of the gastric glands, the gastric juice has properly been regarded as a mixture of secretions produced by the various cellular elements of the gastric mucosa. Bensley 2 differentiated the chief of the neck from those of the body of the gastric glands. Lim 3 confirmed Bensley's observations and suggested the name mucoid cells for the neck chief cells. In addition to the true gastric glands which are found in the body and fundus of the stomach and are made up of the elements already mentioned, the pyloric glands and the mucous of the surface epithelium contribute to the secretion. The parietal are believed to secrete a relatively pure solution of hydrochloric acid of constant strength. Estimates by various authors of the secreted concentration 4 range between