PERISTALSIS IN A LOOP OF SMALL INTESTINE:  A DIRECT STUDY

Knowledge of the movements of the small intestine has been obtained by various methods. The chief methods of study have been roentgenograms or fluoroscopy following an opaque meal; direct observation, after opening the abdomen of an animal submerged in a bath of physiologic sodium chloride solution at body temperature; observation of the changes in pressure produced in a thin walled rubber balloon inserted in the lumen of the intestine, and direct observation of excised intestine, kept alive in an oxygenated saline bath at body temperature.

This study is the direct observation of peristaltic movements in a loop of small intestine which was always present in an unusual congenital umbilical hernia of an old negro. The first observation at once impressed us that the case offered an unusual opportunity because the movements were so plainly seen.

The hernia was in the midline of the abdomen immediately above and continuous with the