BILE. 17 



The alcohol-extract of the pancreatic juice of the dog yielded 

 a very singular reaction. On the addition of a little solution 

 of chlorine to the dissolved alcohol-extract, a vivid rose-red tint 

 was produced, and, in the course of twelve hours, there was a 

 precipitation of delicate violet-coloured flocculi. The colour 

 was immediately destroyed by the addition of an excess of 

 chlorine. An attempt to isolate this colouring matter proved 

 unsuccessful. 



Leuret and Lassaigne have analysed the pancreatic juice of 

 a horse, and the result of their investigation is, that it is almost 

 identical in its composition with human saliva. This statement 

 is so much at variance with the results obtained by Tiedemann 

 and Gmelin, that we must conclude that Leuret and Lassaigne 

 were not sufficiently careful in their investigation. 



We are still unable to state with any degree of certainty 

 what part the pancreatic fluid performs in the process of 

 digestion. There can be no doubt that when the pancreas is 

 diseased, the pancreatic fluid must be also affected, but we are 

 perfectly in the dark as to the nature of those changes. 



The Bile. 



Bilin and urea can hardly be regarded as simultaneous pro- 

 ducts of the metamorphic action of the blood ; for while I have 

 detected small quantities of urea in the blood of a healthy calf, 

 I have never been able to recognize the least trace of bilin or 

 of bile-pigment. Hence, while urea is produced not only in 

 the kidneys but in other parts of the system, bilin seems to be 

 produced and secreted only in the liver. 



The bile is a very complicated fluid. According to the latest 

 researches of Berzelius, it contains bilin ; cholepyrrhin (or bili- 

 phsein) ; biliverdin ; mucus ; cholesterin ; oleate, margarate, and 

 stearate of soda ; chloride of sodium ; sulphate, phosphate, and 

 lactate of soda ; and phosphate of lime. 



Gmelin and Tiedemann, as well as Frommherz, mention casein 

 and ptyalin, and the carbonates and sulphates of soda and lime, 

 among the constituents of the bile. 



A perfect analysis of bile would be a subject of extreme 

 labour and difficulty, and we must, therefore, confine our atten- 

 tion to its most important constituents. Let us suppose that 



ii. 2 



