436 THE LIVER. 



ox-, and dog-bile. Urea occurs in the bile of the shark and ray in such 

 large quantities that it forms one of the chief constituents of the bile. 1 

 The mineral constituents of the bile are, besides the alkalies, to which the 

 bile-acids are united, sodium and potassium chloride, calcium and 

 magnesium phosphate, and iron 0.04-0.115 p. m. in human bile, 

 chiefly combined with phosphoric acid ( YOUNG 2 ). Traces of copper 

 are habitually present, and traces of zinc are often found. Sulphates are 

 entirely absent, or occur only in very small amounts. 



The quantity of iron in the bile varies greatly. According to Novi 

 it is dependent upon the kind of food, and in dogs it is lowest with a bread 

 diet and highest with a meat diet. According to DASTRE this is not the 

 case. The quantity of iron in the bile varies even though a constant 

 diet is maintained, and the variation is dependent upon the- forma- 

 tion and destruction of blood. According to BECCARI S the iron does 

 not disappear from the bile in inanition, and the percentage shows no 

 constant diminution. The question as to the extent of elimination by 

 the bile of the iron introduced into the body has received various answers. 

 There is no doubt that the liver has the property of collecting and retain- 

 ing iron, as well as other metals, from the blood. Certain investigators, 

 such as Novi and KUNKEL, are of the opinion that the iron introduced 

 and transitorily retained in the liver is eliminated by the bile, while 

 others, such as HAMBURGER, GOTTLIEB, and ANSELM, 4 deny any such 

 elimination of iron by the bile. 



Quantitative Composition of the Bile. Complete analyses of human 

 bile have been made by HOPPE-SEYLER and his pupils. The bile was 

 removed from the gall-bladder of cadavers, hence these analyses can 

 be of little interest. Older and less complete analyses of perfectly fresh 

 human bile have been made by FRERICHS and v. GoRUP-BESANEz. 5 

 The bile analyzed by them was from perfectly healthy persons who 

 had been executed or accidentally killed. The two analyses of 

 FRERICHS are, respectively, of (I) an 18-year-old and (II) a 22-year- 

 old male. The analyses of v. GORUP-BESANEZ are of (I) a man of 49 

 and (II) a woman of 29. The results are, as usual, in parts per 1000. 



1 Hammarsten, ibid., 24. 



2 Journ. of Anat. and Physiol., 5, 158. 



3 Novi, see Maly's Jahresber., 20; Dastre, Arch, de Physiol. (5), 3; Beccari, Arch, 

 ital. de Biol., 28. 



4 Kunkel, Pfliiger's Arch., 14; Hamburger, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 2 and 4; 

 Gottlieb, ibid., 15; Anselm, " Ueber die Eisenausscheidung der Galle," Inaug.-Diss. 

 Dorpat, 1891. See also the works cited in footnote 3, p. 339. 



6 See Hoppe-Seyler Physiol. Chem., 301; Socoloff, Pfliiger's Arch., 12; Trifanow- 

 ski, ibid., 9; Frerichs in Hoppe-Seyler's Physiol. Chem., 299; v. Gorup-Besanez, ibid. 



