The Work of the Digestive Glands

What it is

This book contains lectures by Professor I. P. Pavlov on the work of the digestive glands, originally written by Pavlov and here shown in an authorised English translation published in 1910 in London. Pavlov was head of the physiological section of the Imperial Institute of Experimental Medicine and a professor at the Imperial Military Academy of Medicine in St Petersburg.

Why it matters

This work documents Pavlov's detailed experimental research into digestion, the field for which he later won major recognition. It shows the kind of careful physiological study that made him internationally known, long before his famous work on conditioned reflexes.

Look closer

• What does the long list of Pavlov's titles on the title page suggest about his scientific standing at the time?
• Why might this book have been translated into English, and what does that tell you about the reach of his work?
• What subjects does the book cover, and what might it leave out about Pavlov's later, more famous research?