r 



now THE ANIMAL LIVES 2'2'.l 



part removed and transferred to the eireulatory 

 system before the largo intestine is reached. 



4b. Deatination of the rich blood from (he iiiiestines 



40.'). The veins from the stomach and intes- 

 tines carry the vicli products of digestion into 

 the capiHaries of the liver. Here they not only 

 contribute to produce bile, but also new combi- 

 nations of nutritive and other compounds, which 

 pass into the general circulation. 



40G. One of the most imi)ortant of these new 

 products is sugar, which, as already stated (372), 

 is forme<l even in the liver of animals fed on a 

 strictly carnivorous diet. The importance of this 

 product may be inferred frum thf fact that the 

 liver is very large in the young and rapidly- 

 growing animal, and also in mature animals of 

 a meat-producing race: these animals have ex- 

 traordinary powers of digestion and fattening. 



b>7. Another important function of the liver 

 is tilt' transformation, — largely by union with 

 additional oxygen, — of worn-out or effete red 

 globules, and of nuicli of the useless nitrogenous 

 material in the bloml, into urea and other solu- 

 ble products. These pnxlucts are finally |)assed 

 oft by the kidneys. They afford a stimulus to 

 secretion by the ki<lneys, and supply an abun- 

 dance of material which can pass readily througli 



