CHAP. IV.] THE MINERAL CONSTITUENTS OF THE BILE. 



341 



SECT. 13.' THE MINERAL-CONSTITUENTS OF NORMAL BILE. 



In discussing, in the first volume of this work 1 , the mineral 

 constituents of the liquor sanguinis and serum t we have drawn 

 attention to the difficulties which surround their investigation and 

 have shewn how, in a measure, they have been overcome. In the 

 case of the bile, these difficulties are so great (arising from the 

 sulphur of the taurine and the phosphorus of the lecithin, which 

 when ignited yield sulphuric and phosphoric acids, respectively) that 

 the utmost reserve must be exercised in drawing conclusions, from 

 the analyses of the ashes of the bile, as to the salts originally present 

 in the secretion. 



In addition to the organic sodium salts, the bile contains as its 

 chief inorganic constituent sodium chloride, besides sodium carbonate 

 and sodium phosphate. The quantity of potassium salts is, compara- 

 tively, very small. The ashes of bile contain, in addition, calcium 

 phosphate, a trace of magnesium phosphate, a small but invariable 

 quantity of iron, believed to exist as a phosphate (Hoppe-Seyler), and 

 traces of copper; occasionally manganese has been likewise found. 

 Although the published analyses of bile sometimes contain determina- 

 tions of sulphates present in the ignited residue, it is probable that 

 these salts are always the result of ignition ; at most, the quantity of 

 sulphates in the bile is exceedingly small. 



The normal mineral constituents other than iron are best exhibited 

 in the following analysis of the mineral matters of the bile of a 

 healthy man made by Jacobsen 2 . 



Inorganic salts in 1000 parts, 8' 5 



KC1 028 



NaCl 5-50 



Na 3 P0 4 1-30 



Na^COg 0-95 



Ca 3 (P0 4 ) 2 0-37 



FeP0 4 traces. 



The Iron of the Bile. 



When investigating for a Committee of the British Association 

 the action of calomel and some other reputed cholagogues on the 

 liver 3 , Professor Rutherford and the Author were constantly struck 

 by the reddish colour of the ashes of dog's bile, a colour due to 

 the presence of oxide of iron. 



1 Vol. i. (1st edition), p. 6670. 



2 0. Jacobsen, Ber. d. deutsch. chem. GeselL Vol. vi. p. 1026. 



3 ' Report on the Action of Mercury on the Biliary Secretion.' British Association 

 Reports, 1868. 



