276 INFLUENCE OF DIGESTION ON BILE-FLOW. [BOOK II. 



re-established, in spite of the fact that the fistula had remained 

 open, no drop of bile entering the intestine. The quantity of bile 

 secreted (mean of two days' observations) was found to be 590 c.c., 

 containing 2*3 per cent, of solids, the total bile-solids excreted during 

 24 hours amounting to 13*6 grms. per 24 hours. 



This second set of observations (in spite of its being limited to 

 two days) appears to the Author to possess much greater value 

 than the first, inasmuch as the subject under investigation was in a 

 state of robust general health. In this respect these later observa- 

 tions can be compared with those of Copeman and Winston and of 

 Mayo Robson, the three sets possessing an importance which cannot 

 be attached to any of those previously recorded. 



Com orison ^ n *^ e annexed table (p. 277) the results of the ob- 

 of the results servations already referred to can be seen at a glance, 

 of the several Those marked with an asterisk appear to the Author to 

 observers pre- k e of paramount importance, inasmuch as they relate 

 ^eafJ refer " to individuals in a satisfactory state of health. It is 

 unfortunate that in two of the cases which were in 

 other respects admirably investigated the weight of the patient was 

 not ascertained with as great accuracy as the other data noted 1 . 

 From these cases we may conclude that the amount of bile secreted 

 by the healthy human subject (when reabsorption of bile from the 

 intestine cannot take place) varies between a pint and a pint and a 

 half per day, whilst the solids excreted in 24 hours amount to 

 between 3'5 drachms to half an ounce. 



Influence of Abstinence on the Flow of Bile and Variation in its 

 Amount during the period of Digestion. 



Although, as has already been stated, the flow of bile is con- 

 tinuous, the majority of observations point to the fact that during 

 prolonged abstinence the secretion diminishes very greatly in quan- 

 tity ; the observations of Hoppe-Seyler 2 have shewn that in this 

 condition the mineral matters of the bile are remarkably diminished, 

 in correspondence, probably, with the greatly diminished secretion 

 of water by the liver. 



According to Klihne 3 and Hoppe-Seyler, the secretion of bile 

 increases immediately after a meal, and the increase is maintained for 

 about an hour. There is then a certain diminution of rate, and it is 

 only after a considerable interval that the increased flow again sets 

 in. The statements of various observers differ materially as to the 

 time when this increase sets in. There is considerable evidence, how- 

 ever, in favour of the view that the flow of bile is particularly 

 abundant during the 3rd and 5th hours of digestion (Voit, Kolliker 



1 Copeman and Winston state that the weight of their patient which was at first 

 42-7 increased to 44-7. 



Noel Paton states in his account of his second set of observations that the patient 

 * is fat and must weigh eleven or twelve stone. ' The mean of these estimates has been 

 taken ; it is probably very near the truth, as the patient's weight a year previous was 

 list. Ifclbs. (70-6 kilos.). 



2 Hoppe-Seyler, Physiologische Chcmie, Berlin, 1878, p. 308. 



3 Kiihne, Lehrbuch, p. 71. 



