CHAP. XXXII.] 



1NGESTA AND EGESTA. 



451 



one organ may take upon itself the work of another, whose healthy 

 function has been temporarily suspended or impaired by disease. 

 Advantage is taken of this circumstance in the treatment of kidney 

 diseases, in which the functions of those organs are temporarily or 

 permanently impaired. In such cases, the removal of the urinary 

 constituents is promoted through the skin, or from the intestinal 

 tube, by giving purgative medicines, and by promoting secretions. 

 The excretion of biliary matter in the urine in cases of jaundice, 

 and the separation of the menstrual fluid from the mucous mem- 

 brane of the lungs or stomach, are familiar examples of this vica- 

 rious action. Very numerous cases of metastasis of the urinary 

 secretion are on record ; and elements of the urine have been met 

 with in vomit, in the stools, in the tears, and secretions of the ears 

 and nose ; in the milk, and upon the cutaneous surface generally, 

 particularly about the navel. 



If the kidneys of an animal be extirpated, the elements of the 

 urine may be detected in many situations in which they are not 

 normally present. In disease, when the functions of the kidneys 

 are much impaired, it is not uncommon for the elements of the 

 urine to pass off from the stomach by vomiting. 



Ingesta and Egesta. It is obvious, that if the weight of the body 

 remains the same, the quantity of matter removed by the different 

 excretory channels will exactly correspond to the ingesta, although 

 the arrangement of the elements will be changed. 



The proportion in which the different elements entering into the 

 composition of the food are removed by the various secreting 

 organs, is shown in the following table, the result of some excel- 

 lent experiments of M. Barral : 



Ingested as Food. 



Excreted. 



Carbon 

 Nitrogen 

 Hydrogen 

 Oxygen 



Total 



43,236-7 



2,594-0 1,530-1 



39,112-6 



The quantity of water removed from the body was usually one- 

 fifth or one-sixth more than that taken in, showing that water is 

 really produced in the organism. 



General View of the Anatomical Plan of Secreting Organs. We 

 have said that the secreting tissues are arranged in such a manner 



