988 WHAT IS BLACK BILE ? 



the serous portion of the blood, would appear 

 from the fact, that he describes it as the humour 

 from which urine, sweat, and dropsical effusions 

 are derived. Whether he always meant by 

 yellow bile the hepatic secretion is doubtful ; for 

 although he says that it is found in the liver, he 

 states in another place, that on dissecting the 

 heart of an animal, he found a little yellow bile in 

 the left ventricle. (De Corde, Sect. 9.) 



But that his black bile was identical with dark 

 venous blood, is evident from the fact, that he 

 supposed it to be generated in the spleen, which 

 is now well known to be a reservoir of black blood. 

 And he states that the dark grumous fluid dis- 

 charged from the stomach in cases corresponding 

 with our hematemesis, was black bile. (De 

 Morbis. Lib. II.) Accordingly, it was regarded 

 by Hoffman, Morgagni, Cullen, and many other 

 distinguished moderns, as only another name for 

 dark venous blood. Nor can there be a doubt, 

 that in a climate like that of Greece, respiration 

 is so far diminished by the excessive heat of 

 summer and autumn, as greatly to impair the vital 

 properties of the blood, and change it to a darker 

 colour than usual. 



From the time of Boerhaave to that of Riche- 

 rand, physiologists have described the sanguine 

 temperament as marked by a broad chest, full 

 and robust body, strong pulse, an abundance of 

 rich arterial blood, a florid complexion, a cheer- 



