402 USES OF THE LIVER DUCTLESS GLANDS. 



ter of the bile stains the animal tissues. This is very well illustrated in 

 icterus, when even a small quantity of this coloring matter finds its way into 

 the circulation. 



Perfectly normal and fresh bile, examined with the microscope, presents 

 a certain quantity of mucus, the characters of which have already been de- 

 scribed. There are no formed anatomical elements characteristic of this 

 fluid. The fatty and coloring matters are in solution and not in the form of 

 globules or granules. 



COMPOSITION OF HUMAN BILE. (ROBIN.) 



Water 916-00 to 819-00 



Sodium taurocholate 56-50 " 106*00 



Sodium glycocholate traces. 



Cholesterine 0-62 to 2-66 



Bilirubin 14-00 " 30-00 



Lecithene I, 3 . 30 3J.QO 



Palmitine, oleine and traces of soaps. . ) 



Choline traces. 



Sodium chloride 2'77 to 3-50 



Sodium phosphate 1-60 " 2-50 



Potassium phosphate 0*75 * 1-50 



Calcium phosphate 0-50 " 1-35 



Magnesium phosphate 0-45 " 0-80 



Salts of iron 0-15 " 0-30 



Salts of manganese traces " 0-12 



Silicic acid 0-03 " 0-06 



Mucine traces. 



Loss 3-43 to 1-21 



1,000-00 1,000-00 



There are no peculiarities in the composition of the bile, in respect to its 

 inorganic constituents, which demand more than a passing mention. It con- 

 tains no coagulable organic matters except mucine, and all of its constitu- 

 ents are simply solids in solution. The quantity of solid matter is very large, 

 and the proportion of water is relatively small. Among the inorganic salts, 

 sodium chloride exists in considerable quantity, with a large proportion of 

 phosphates. There exist, also, salts of iron and of manganese, with a small 

 quantity of silicic acid. 



The fatty and saponaceous constituents demand hardly any more extended 

 consideration. A small quantity of palmitine and oleine are held in solu- 

 tion, partly by the soaps, but chiefly by the sodium taurocholate. The fats 

 sometimes exist in larger quantity, when they may be discovered in the form of 

 globules. The proportion of soaps is very small. Lecithene (C 44 H 90 NPOg) 

 is a neutral, fatty substance extracted from the bile, and may be decomposed 

 into phosphoric acid and glycerine. Choline (C 5 H 15 N0 2 ) is an alkaloid 

 found in the bile in exceedingly minute quantity. 



Biliary Salts. In human bile the characteristic biliary salt is a combi- 

 nation of taurocholic acid (C 2 6H 45 NS0 7 ) with sodium. A very small quantity 

 of sodium exists in combination with glycocholic acid (C^ 6 H 43 N0 6 ). These 



