440 THE LIVER. 



observed by HOPPE-SEYLER * in amyloid degeneration of the liver. In animals, 

 dogs, and especially rabbits, it has been observed that the blood-pigments pass 

 into the bile in poisoning and in other conditions, causing a destruction of the 

 blood-corpuscles, as also after intravenous hemoglobin injection (WERTHEIMER 

 and MEYER, FILEHNE, STERN 2 ). Albumin can pass into the bile after the intra- 

 venous injection of a foreign protein (casein) (GURBER and HALLAUER), as well 

 as after poisoning with phosphorus or arsenic (PILZECKER), or after the irrita- 

 tion of the liver by the introduction of ethyl alcohol or amyl alcohol (BRAUER). 

 Sugar occurs in bile only in exceptional cases. 3 



The physiological secretion of the gall-bladder in man is, according 

 to WAHLGREN 4 a viscous, alkaline fluid with 11.24-19.63 p. m. solids. 

 The mucilaginous properties are not due to mucin, but to a phosphorized 

 protein substance (nucleoalbumin or nucleoprotein) . 



Instead of bile there is sometimes found in the gall-bladder under pathological 

 conditions a more or less viscous, thready, colorless fluid which contains pseudo- 

 mucins or other peculiar protein substances. 5 



Chemical Formation of the Bile. The first question to be answered 

 is the following: Do the specific constituents of the bile, the bile-acids 

 and bile-pigments originate in the liver; and if this is the case, do they 

 come from this organ alone, or are they also formed elsewhere? 



The investigations of the blood, and especially the comparative 

 investigations of the blood of the portal and hepatic veins under normal 

 conditions, have not given any answer to this question. To decide this, 

 therefore, it is necessary to extirpate the liver of animals or to isolate 

 it from the circulation. If the bile constituents are not formed in the 

 liver, or at least not alone in this organ, but are eliminated only from 

 the blood, then, after the extirpation or removal of the liver from the 

 circulation, an accumulation of the bile constituents is to be expected 

 in the blood and tissues. If the bile constituents, on the contrary, are 

 formed exclusively in the liver, then the above operation naturally would 

 give no such result. If the ductus choledochus is tied, then the bile 

 constituents will be collected in the blood or tissues whether they are 

 formed in the liver or elsewhere. 



From these principles KOBNER has tried to demonstrate by exper- 

 iments on frogs that the bile-acids are produced exclusively in the liver. 

 While he was unable to detect any bile-acids in the blood and tissues of 



fitter, Compt. Rend., 74, and Journ.de 1'anat. et de la physiol. (Robin), 1872; 

 Hoppe-Seyler, Physiol. Chem., 317. 



2 Wertheimer and Meyer, Compt. Rend., 108; Filehne, Virchow's Arch., 121; Stern, 

 ibid., 123. 



8 Giirber, and Hallauer, Zeitschr. f. Biologic, 45; Pilzecker, Zeitschr. f. physiol. 

 Chem., 41; Brauer, ibid., 40. 



4 See Maly's Jahresber., 32. 



5 Winternitz, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 21; Solhnann, Amer. Medicine, 5 (1903), 



