BILE. 



BIMANA. 



458 



Water 



Picromel and Resin 



Yellow matter 



Soda 



Phosphate of Soda 



Muriate of Soda 



Sulphate of Soda 



Phosphate of Lime . 



Oxide of Iron 



Ox-SOf. 



Human Bile. 



Water 



Yellow insoluble matter 

 Albumen .... 



Kesin 



Soda 



Salts the same as in Ox-Bile 



700 



84-3 



45 



4 



2 



3-2 



0-8 



1-2 



a trace. 



800-0 



. 1000 

 . 2 to 10 

 42 

 41 

 5-6 

 4-5 



According to Berzelius, the following is the composition of Human 

 Bile : 



Water 908'4 



Picromel 80 



Albumen 3 



Soda 4-1 



Phosphate of Lime O'l 



Common Salt 3'4 



Phosphate of Soda with some Lime . . I'O 



1000-0 



It will be seen from these analyses that the chief part of the organic 

 elements was found in the form of picromel. It was in the year 1838 

 that Demarcay announced that bile consisted essentially of an organic 

 acid combined with soda. He termed the acid choleic, and obtained 

 it in the following manner : bile, from which the mucus had been 

 precipitated by alcohol, was evaporated on the water-bath, and 10 

 parts of the dried residue were dissolved in 100 parts of water, to which 



10 parts of hydro-chloric acid had been added. Allowing evaporation 

 at a moderate temperature to proceed, it was observed that a dark green 



011 collected on the surface, while at the same time the fluid became 

 turbid. On removing the oil and allowing the fluid to rest for some 

 time, it gradually became clear, with the precipitation of a green 

 deposit. This dark green bitter precipitate is Demarcay 's choleic acid, 

 and is regarded by him as constituting nine-tenths of the solid consti- 

 tuents of the bile. It is still mixed with margaric acid, cholesterin, 

 pigment, &c. After their removal it forms a yellow spongy matter, 

 which rapidly absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere, is very bitter, 

 slightly soluble in ether, soluble in water, and very soluble in alcohol. 

 The choleate of soda, obtained by adding an alcoholic solution of soda 

 to an alcoholic solution of choleic acid, and then passing a current of 

 carbonic acid through it to remove the excess of soda, possesses all 

 the characters of bile ; it yields on evaporation a brown resinous mass, 

 and is soluble in water and in alcohoL 



When choleic acid is boiled with hydrochloric acid it yields 

 ammonia, taurine, and choloidic acid ; the latter being insoluble is 

 deposited. The formulae usually assigned to choleic acid, taurine, 

 and choloidic acid differ only slightly from the formula given above 

 for the organic portion of ox-bile. 



But it hzs been recently shown by Redtenbacher that taurine 

 contains as much as 25 per cent, of sulphur. 



As an instance of modern chemical analysis we give the two follow- 

 ing analyses. The bile in these cases was obtained from healthy men, 

 killed by severe accidents : 



1. 2. 



Water 86-00 85'92 



Si.lid constituents . . . 14-00 14-08 



Choleate of Soda . . . 10'22 9'14 



Cholesterin . . . . 0'16 0'26 



Margarin and Oleiu . . 0'32 0'92 



Mucus 2-66 2-98 



Chloride of Sodium . . 0'25 0'20 



Tribasic Phosphate of Soda . 0'20 0'25 



Basic Phosphate of Lime j 

 Magnesia j 



Sulphate of Iron . . . 0'02 0'04 



Peroxide of Iron . . . traces traces 



Plainer succeeded in obtaining choleic acid and choleate of soda in a 

 crystallised furm. Sugar has also been recently demonstrated to 

 exist in the bile. Gmelin and Strecker have also obtained from dried 

 bile an acid which they call choleic, and other substances have been 

 procured from the bile of lower animals. 



One of the uses which the bile serves in the economy is to produce 

 a specific change upon the aliment in a certain stage of the digestive 

 process. The first change which the food undergoes after it has been 

 swallowed is the reduction of it by the stomach into a fluid mass, 

 the appearance of which varies considerably according to the nature 

 of the food. This fluid mass is termed chyme, which when accumu- 

 lated in a certain quantity is sent from the stomach into the duodenum. 



In the duodenum the food undergoes a further change, and is con- 

 verted from chyme into the substance called chyle. These two fluids 

 are distinguished from each other by specific characters. [DIGESTION.] 

 That the bile is the main agent in producing the change by which 

 chyme is converted into chyle is proved by a decisive experiment 

 performed by Sir B. Brodie. 



This physiologist applied a ligature around the choledoch duct of 

 an animal so as completely to prevent the bile from entering the 

 duodenum, and then noted the effects produced on the digestion of 

 the food immediately before and immediately after the operation. The 

 experiment was repeated several times, and the result was uniform. 

 The production of the chyme in the stomach took place as usual, but 

 the conversion of the chyme into chyle was immediately and com- 

 pletely interrupted. Not the smallest trace of chyle was perceptible 

 either in the duodenum or in the vessels which take up the chyle when 

 formed, namely, the lacteals. 



It was at one time supposed that after the bile had performed this 

 function that its compounds were thrown off from the system by the 

 bowels. But that the bile is not merely an excrementitious fluid, 

 intended to remove effete matter from the blood, but a secretion 

 essential to the animal economy, was rendered almost certain by the 

 experiments of Berzelius, Theyer, and Schlosser, which showed that 

 the human faeces contained much too small a quantity of a substance 

 resembling bile, to justify the idea that it was evacuated in this manner. 

 A further proof that the bile is absorbed and not excreted is afforded 

 by an examination, made by Enderlin, of the ash yielded by the 

 contents of .the different portions of the intestinal canal of a hare. 

 He found that the ash from the contents of the duodenum alone 

 effervesced on the addition of an acid, thus showing that the choleate 

 of soda (which yields the carbonate on incineration) is absorbed 

 before reaching the jejunum. Schwann also established this opinion 

 beyond a doubt, by a series of well-devised experiments on dogs. He 

 tied the ductus choledochus, and at the same time formed a fistulous 

 opening in the gall-bladder, by which the bile escaped externally. 

 His most important conclusions are 1st, that when the bile does not 

 get into the bowel its absence is generally perceptible in dogs about 

 the third day by a marked diminution in weight; and, 2nd, that 

 unless the channel for the conveyance of bile to the duodenum is re- 

 established, symptoms of deficient nutrition, wasting, debility, &c., 

 ensile, and death is the ultimate consequence. 



Upon this ground it was suggested by Liebig that probably all the 

 carbonaceous substances of the food were converted into bUe before 

 being again taken up into the circulation and converted into carbonic 

 acid for the supply of animal heat. It is however certain that a 

 portion of the bile, in the form of colouring matter, passes off through 

 the intestines, and also that in certain diseases it is thrown off in 

 considerable quantities with the contents of the bowels. It can also 

 be shown that the quantity of biliary matter formed in the liver does 

 not contain more than one-sixth or one-eighth of the quantity of 

 carbon that is thrown off from the lungs in the form of carbonic acid. 



(Simon, Animal Chemistry; Lehmann, Physiological Chemistry ; 

 Carpenter, Manual of Physiology ; Gregory, Haiid-Book of Organic 

 Chemistry ; Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology, article ' Bile ' ; 

 Liebig, Animal Chemistry.) 



BILIMBI, the Malayan name of the acid fruit of a species of 

 Arerrhoa. [AvERRHOA.f 



BILLARDIE'RA, a genus of plants named after Jean Jacques 

 Julien Labillardiere, a French botanist, who visited Syria, and 

 afterwards Australia, in D'Entrecasteaux's Expedition, and wrote 

 the ' Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen," in two vols., 4to. The 

 genus belongs to the natural order Pittoporace<e, and has a calyx of 

 five acuminate sepals, five petals with approximate claws, which are 

 convoluted at their edges, forming a campanulate flower ; an ellipitical 

 berry terminated by a style. The species are called Apple-Berries ; 

 and George Don enumerates eight. They are climbing shriilw, 

 natives of Australia and Van Diemen's Land. The fruit which they 

 bear is eatable. 



B. longijlora has climbing branches, the younger ones scarcely 

 pubescent ; the leaves lanceolate, entire ; the pedicles 1-flowered, 

 glabrous, one half shorter than the flower ; the berries almost globose, 

 torose, glabrous. This plant is " a fast grower and abundant flowerer ; 

 and when in fruit its fine blue berries make a handsome appearance." 

 (London.) 



The other species are desirable shrubs for the conservatory. They 

 thrive well when planted in an equal mixture of loam and peat. 

 Cuttings will readily root in sand under a bell-glass. They may bo 

 also raised from seed, which they produce in abundance. 



(Cyclopirdia of Plants ; G. Don, Gardener'i Dictionary.) 



BILLBERGIA, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order 

 Bromeliaceff, named after Billberg, a Swedish botanist. Several species 

 are cultivated in our stoves. They are all natives of South America. 

 One of the species, B. tinctoria, yields a colouring matter, which is 

 used for dyeing in Mexico. 



BILLY-BITKR, a local name for the Blue Tit. [PARUS.] 



BILOCULI'NA (D'Orbigny), the name of a genus of Foraminifera, 

 Les Milioles of Femissac. 



BIMANA, the first order of the class Mammalia, which, includes 

 the single genus and species Homo tapieni Man. [MAN.] 



