26 GENERAL ACTIONS OF DRUGS 



action only is required the saline should be administered in 

 considerable dilution. This happens because salines con- 

 tinue to cause an outpouring of fluid (succus entericus) into 

 the intestines until a 5 to 6 per cent, solution of the salt is 

 reached. The nearer to this degree of dilution (5-6 per 

 cent.), therefore, the dose is given, the more quickly will it 

 purge. 



The drastics included in this class of purgatives have 

 the power of markedly increasing intestinal secretion as well 

 as peristaltic action. 



5. Ckolagogne Purgatives. — Cholagogues are agents which 

 assist in removing bile from the body. They do this in two 

 ways. 1. By directly stimulating the secretion of bile. 

 These are called Direct Cholaguoges, or Hepatic Stimulants. 

 2. By increasing peristalsis in the upper portion of the 

 small intestines, and thus hastening the expulsion of bile 

 from the bowels. These are called Indirect Cholagogues. 

 Some cholagogues are not generally considered purgatives, 

 but it is proper to classify all of them thus, since bile stim- 

 ulates peristalsis. 



The functions of the liver which cholagogues influence 

 — more or less — are as follows : 



1. Destructive Action. — The liver not only destroys the 

 toxicity of peptones and other poisonous fermentative and 

 putrefactive products of digestion, but antagonizes as well 

 the effect of toxins and alkaloids derived from various sources^ 

 including those absorbed from the alimentary tract. 



2. Constructive Action. — The liver completes the assimi- 

 lation of peptones by converting them into albumin and 

 globulin for immediate use. An important hepatic function 

 is the formation of glycogen from peptones and sugar occur- 

 ring as digestive products. Finally urea is produced in the 

 liver from products of oxidation in the body, as leucin. 



3. Excretory Action. — The liver produces bile which is 

 both an excretion and secretion. In bile are eliminated, as 

 toxic matters, biliary acids (the product of liver cells), bile 

 pigment (the result of decomposition of red blood cells in 



