SECRETION OF BILE. 521 



view is borne out by the results of Experiment, and of Pathological observa- 

 tion. Thus, if the Vena Portae be tied, the secretion of bile still continues, 

 though in diminished quantity ; and several cases are on record, in which, 

 through a malformation, the Vena Portre terminated in the Vena Cava without 

 ramifying through the liver, and in which secretion of Bile took place, evi- 

 dently from the blood of the Hepatic Artery, which had become venous by 

 circulating through the substance of the Liver ; and this blood appears* to 

 have passed into the ramifications of the Umbilical Vein, which formed a plexus 

 in the lobules, exactly resembling the ordinary portal plexus. It must be re- 

 membered, however, that in all these instances, the arterial Blood will become 

 abnormally charged with the elements of Bile ; since the blood of the chylo- 

 poietic viscera, from which it ought to have been separated, returns to the 

 heart without undergoing any such purification : and the secretion of Bile 

 from the blood supplied by the Hepatic Artery under such circumstances 

 cannot, therefore, be considered as proving that the arterial blood is ordinarily 

 concerned in the secretion to the same degree. 



661. That the proximate elements of the Bile accumulate in the Blood, 

 when from any cause the secretion is suspended, is a fact now well ascertained ; 

 and this satisfactorily accounts for the disturbance of the other functions, espe- 

 cially those of the Nervous system, which then ensues. When the sup- 

 pression is complete, the patient suddenly becomes jaundiced, the powers of 

 that system are speedily lowered (almost as by a narcotic poison), and death 

 rapidly supervenes.! When the secretion is diminished, but not suspended, 

 the same symptoms present themselves in a less aggravated form. It is pro- 

 bable that much of the disorder in the functions of the Brain, which so con- 

 stantly accompanies deranged action of the Digestive system, is due to the 

 less severe operation of the same causjj, the partial retention within the Blood 

 of certain constituents of the Bile, which should have eliminated from the cir- 

 culating ijjfcd. In such a condition, we derive great benefit from the use of 

 mercuri$ medicines ; which, by stimulating the Liver to increased action, cause 

 the removal of the morbific agent from the blood. Deficient secretion of the 

 Liver may be recognized as the cause of this and of other diseases, by the 

 paleness of the alvine evacuations, the diffused yellowness of the surface of 

 the body, the yellowish-brown fur upon the tongue and the congestion of the 

 portal system ; this last results from the same cause as that which stagnates 

 the blood in the Lungs when there is deficient Respiration ( 548), and fre- 

 quently occasions Ascites, and other disorders of the contents of the abdomen. 

 An abnormal accumulation of the elements of the Bile in the Blood, is habitual 

 in some persons; and it produces a degree of indisposition to bodily or mental 

 exertion, which it is difficult to counteract. It may often be recognized by the 

 accumulation of dark mucus having distinctly the taste of bile, on the surface 

 of the tongue, especially during the night ; this secretion being apparently 

 eliminated by the mucous membrane of the tongue, when the function of the 

 liver is not duly performed. 



662. Much discussion has taken place among Chemists, in regard to the 

 proximate principles of the Biliary secretion ; a large number of analyses 

 having been made, amongst the results of which there is a great want of con- 

 formity. The discrepancies principally arise from this source, that the 

 secretion is acted on with great facility by chemical reagents ; so that many 

 of the component parts which have been enumerated are not true educts ; but 

 are products of the operations, to which the fluid has been subjected. The 

 proportion of solid matter is usually from 9 to 12 per cent. ; and nearly the 



* This, at least, was found to be the case, in the only instance in which the liver was 

 examined with sufficient care. 



f See Dr. Alison in Edinb. Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. xliv., p. 287. 



44* 



