Gastric Juice for Sale

For this piece we created a life size shop display for bottles of gastric juice extracted from the stomach of a dog — genuinely produced in Pavlov’s labs. 
Listen to this page 

Pavlov’s experiments were funded in part by the public sale of the gastric juice of dogs as a cure for chronic indigestion in humans. Whilst most dogs were destined for the labs and experiments, some were designated the role of factory workers’ for this purpose.

Five dogs undergoing experiments on gastric secretion in the Physiology Department, Imperial Institute of Experimental Medicine, St Petersburg. Photograph, 1904. Wellcome Collection. Source: Wellcome Collection. 

Factory dogs’

In a separate dedicated section of The Physiology Department row upon row of dogs could be found on any working day, all secured to a long beam above, a bench below. Each dog, starved before their shift, is subjected to the sham feeding’ system.

Reimagining the gastric juice factory. Photo: Matt Adams 
In the Physiology Department doll’s house. Photo: Matt Adams 

Sham feeding’ trials

The system was first developed for physiological studies and demonstrations of digestive processes. In Pavlov’s gastric juice factory, however, the focus was the extraction and collection of large quantities of gastric juice untainted by food, to be sold to the general public as a cure for dyspepsia – otherwise known as chronic indigestion. 

Advertising poster for gastric juice. Design: Matt Adams 
When taken after a meal, I always receive a sensation of special lightness in the stomach area, an absence of that sensation of unpleasant heaviness during digestion that has long been characteristic of my chronic, low degree dyspepsia
Genuine testimony — though from workers in Pavlov’s labs — according to Wood, J. D. (2004). The first Nobel prize for integrated systems physiology: Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, 1904. Physiology, 19(6), 326–330.

We reimagine the labelling and advertising that might have accompanied the public sale of the product. We remain largely faithful to the descriptions and instructions that Pavlov produced, including correct dosage, health warnings, and the apparent testimony of happy customers.

Gastric juice bottles on display — yours for as little as just 79 kopeks! Photo: Mark Hawdon 
The label on the back of the bottles. Design: Matt Adams 

Would you have tried it?

That might seem like an easy question to answer — of course not! As a remedy to be ingested by humans, canine gastric juice probably seems pretty repellent, even if we are unaware of the specifics of how it was extracted. But perhaps, on reflection, it’s not that different from the thousands of items we consume today that contain animal products, however well-hidden their origins and means of production might be? 

Featuring porcelain dogs with surgical appendages! Photo: Mark Hawdon 
Hear more from inside the gastric juice factory 

Explore more stories