VARIATIONS AND FUNCTIONS OF BILE. 199 



are ; but they are evidently transformations of a catalytic nature, 

 produced by the contact of the bile with the intestinal juices. 



The bile, therefore, is a secretion which has not_jfit accomplished 

 its function when it is discharged from the liver and poured into the 

 intestine. On the contrary, during its passage through the intestine 

 it is still in the interior of the body, in contact with glandular sur- 

 faces, and mingled with various organic substances, the ingredients 

 of the intestinal fluids, which act upon it as catalytic bodies, and 

 produce in it new transformations. This may account for the fact 

 stated above, that the bile, though a constant and uninterrupted 

 secretion, is nevertheless poured into the intestine in the greatest 

 abundance immediately after a hearty meal. This is not because it 

 is to take any direct part in the digestion of the food ; but because 

 the intestinal fluids, being themselves present at that time in the 

 greatest abundance, can then act upon and decompose the greatest 

 quantity of bile. At all events, the biliary ingredients, after being 

 altered and transformed in the intestine, as they might be in the 

 interior of a glandular organ, re-enter the blood under some new 

 form, and are oarried away by the circulation, to complete their 

 function in some other part of the body. 



