282 THE RESEARCHES OF WERTHEIMER. [BOOK II. 



bile obtained from the fistula assumed the green tint which is 

 characteristic of that of the ox. Baldi's observations, taken in 

 connection with the results of Tarchanoff and of Vossius, were 

 sufficient to establish a presumption in favour of the view that the 

 bile colouring matter of the ox when introduced into the blood of 

 the dog is seized by the liver, which excretes it unaltered in the 

 bile. But though rendering this view probable, Baldi's experiments 

 afforded no strict scientific proof. Stadelmann 1 has shewn that when 

 solutions containing 0'6 or 0*8 per cent, of common salt are intro- 

 duced into the blood of the dog, the quantity of bile is diminished 

 and it becomes distinctly green. The green tint noticed by Baldi 

 might, therefore, after all, not be due to the passage into the bile 

 of the green colouring matter of the bile of the ox. 



It is to the researches of Professor Wertheimer of Lille that we 

 owe the absolute and conclusive proof that when foreign bile colour- 

 ing matters are introduced into the portal blood or into the general 

 circulation of the dog, they are excreted unchanged by the liver. 



MacMunn 2 has described as a characteristic colouring matter in 

 the bile of the sheep and ox, a body to which he had given the 

 name of cholohsematin, and which is characterised by the presence 

 in its* spectrum of four absorption bands, of which one which is par- 

 ticularly well marked is. situated between B and (7, a second which 

 is much less distinct between C and D, quite close to Z), and two 

 between D and B. (See Plate II. Spect. 1,) 



Having in conjunction with Meyer 3 confirmed the observations of 

 MacMunn on the spectrum of cholohaematin, and ascertained that 

 fresh bile of the dog, obtained from the gall-bladder, exhibits no 

 definite absorption bands, Wertheimer 4 established temporary biliary 

 fistulas in dogs, and after determining that the bile flowing from 

 the fistula exhibited no absorption bands, slowly injected varying 

 quantities of sheep's bile into one of the femoral veins. Within a 

 quarter of an hour from the commencement of the injection of bile 

 into the circulation, the bile flowing from the fistula exhibited in a 

 characteristic manner the spectrum of cholohsematin, whilst it 

 acquired a greenish hue. In his experiments Wertheimer observed 

 a large increase in the flow of bile as a constant result of the 

 injection of bile into the circulation. To his results reference will 

 be again made in discussing the processes of absorption in the 

 intestine. 



1 Stadelmann, Archiv f. experim. Pathologic, Vol. xv. (1882), p. 337. 



2 MacMunn, ' Spectroscope in Medicine,' Lend. 1880 : Proceedings of the Royal 

 Society, Vol. xxxi. (1880), p. 26: Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1883: 'Observa- 

 tions on some of the Colouring Matters of Bile and Urine, with especial reference to 

 their origin, &c.' Journal of Physiology, Vol. xi. (188485), pp. 2239. 



3 M. E. Wertheimer et E. Meyer, ' De 1'apparition de 1'oxyhemoglobine dans la bile 

 et de quelques caracteres spectroscopiques normaux de ce liquide,' Archives de Physio- 

 logic normale et pathologique, Juillet, 1889, pp. 438 448. 



4 M. E. Wertheimer, ' Experiences montrant que le foie rejette la bile introduite 

 dans le sang,' Archives de Physiologic, No. 4, Oct. 1891, pp. 724734. 



