HIDDEN PROCESSES 149 



series of decompositions succeeded by syn- 

 theses one result of which is the throwing 

 out of useless residues that are found in 

 some of the constituents of the bile. The 

 glycogenic function gives us only a glimpse 

 into the nature of the complex chemical 

 phenomena occurring in a hepatic cell. In 

 the liver also there appears to be a destruction 

 of effete red blood corpuscles with the decom- 

 position of haemoglobin, and the excretion in 

 the bile of pigments and of cholesterol. 



79. In recent years a remarkable discovery 

 has been made with regard to certain organs 

 that were previously a puzzle to physiologists, 

 such organs as the thyroid body or gland 

 found in front of the upper end of the trachea 

 or windpipe ; the two suprarenal bodies found 

 immediately above the upper end of each 

 kidney ; the pituitary body found at the base of 

 the brain ; the spleen, lying on the left side of 

 the stomach ; and various organs now known 

 to belong to the lymphatic system, such as 

 the lymphatic glands, the tonsils, and the 

 Peyerian glands found in the small intestine, 

 more especially in its third and lower portion, 



