560 METABOLIC PROCESSES. [Book ii. 



tissues in an earlier part of this work ; but success in the study 

 of these can hardly be expected until our knowledge is increased 

 as regards the changes which the blood undergoes before it 

 reaches and after it leaves the muscle or the nerve. The fact 

 that a large part of the absorbed food is carried through the 

 liver before it is thrown on the general circulation leads us to 

 suppose that in this large organ important metabolic processes 

 are carried on ; and observation with experiment confirms this 

 view. Important as the secretions of bile may be the other 

 metabolic functions of the liver are of still greater importance. 



