56 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



one-half pounds, being the largest of all the glands in 

 the body. 



The Business of Bile.— The bile is one of the most 

 useful, and certainly the most remarkable, of all the 

 fluids of the body. It is a golden yellow color in human 

 beings and dogs. The bile, or gall, of an ox is green; 

 and in certain diseases persons vomit bile of a green 

 color, which has led to the supposition that human bile 

 is green also. This is not correct, the green color of 

 vomited bile being due to changes which take place in 

 the stomach, where it comes in contact with the gastric 

 juice. The bile has more uses than any other fluid in 

 the body. 



1. It aids digestion, helping to change the fats of 

 our food into a creamy substance, called an emulsion, 

 which can be easily absorbed. 



2. The bile aids in all of the digestive processes which 

 take place in the small intestine, by destroying the ac- 

 tivity of the gastric juice, which is strongly acid, and, 

 except for the neutralizing influence of the bile upon 

 it, would prevent the action of the pancreatic and 

 intestinal fluids. Bile also excites the intestines to 

 contraction, by which the digesting food is moved 

 along, and in some mysterious manner helps the 

 mucous membrane to absorb the food after it has been 

 digested. 



3. It consists largely of waste substances which 

 have been gathered from various parts of the body. 

 When the liver does not do its work properly, these 

 foul matters accumulate, and the person '^ feels blue." 



Liver Work.— But the liver does something more 

 than make bile. As before stated, most of the blood 

 which passes through the abdominal organs— the stom- 

 ach, intestines, pancreas, and spleen— is gathered into 



