CHAPTER VIII. 

 THE LIVER AND PANCREAS. 



Bile. 



The bile is a fluid of an alkaline reaction, and of a 

 yellowish-green or dark -green colour in herbivora, though 

 in man and carnivora it is of a golden red tint. This 

 difference in colour depends upon the character of the 

 pigment present, to which we will shortly allude. 



Bile has a bitter taste, a specific gravity in the ox of 

 1022 to 1025, in the sheep from 1025 to 1031, in the horse 

 1005. By standing in the gall-bladder the solids are con- 

 siderably increased, owing to an absorption of part of the 

 water of the bile. Bile taken direct from the liver is watery 

 in consistence, that taken from the gall-bladder is viscid, 

 due to admixture with mucin during its stay in the latter 

 receptacle. The secretion contains no proteid, which is 

 somewhat remarkable. It contains mucin (which is derived 

 from the gall-bladder), biliary pigments, bile acids, fats, 

 soaps, lecithin, cholesterin, a small quantity of diastatic 

 ferment, and inorganic salts. The secretion in the horse 

 contains no mucin, and, according to Ellenberger, there is 

 very little mucin in the bile of sheep. 



The dried alcoholic extract of bile contains in the ox 

 3'58 per cent, of sulphur, sheep 5 - 71 per cent., and pig 

 •33 per cent * The gases found in bile are CCX,, and traces 

 of O and N. 



The chief inorganic salts are sodium chloride and sodium 

 phosphate, besides which are found lime, magnesium, 



* Quoted by Halliburton. 



