58 THE CARBON OF THE BILE 



with water in every proportion, and which, passing into 

 the duodenum, mixes with the chyme. All those parts 

 of the bile which, during the digestive process, do not 

 lose their solubility, return during that process into the 

 circulation in a state of extreme division. The soda 

 of the bile, and those highly carbonized portions which 

 are not precipitated by a weak acid (together making 

 T 9 9 ths of the solid contents of the bile), retain the ca- 

 pacity of resorption by the absorbents of the small and 

 large intestines ; nay, this capacity has been directly 

 proved by the administration of enemata containing bile, 

 the whole of the bile disappearing with the injected 

 fluid in the rectum. 



Thus we know with certainty, that the nitrogenized 

 compounds produced by the metamorphosis of organ- 

 ized tissues, after being separated from the arterial 

 blood by means of the kidneys, are expelled from the 

 body as utterly incapable of further alteration ; while 

 the compounds rich in carbon, derived from the same 

 source, return into the system of carnivorous animals. 



The food of the carnivora is identical with the chief 

 constituents of their bodies, and hence the metamor- 

 phoses which their organs undergo must be the same as 

 those which, under the influence of the vital force, take 

 place in the matters which constitute their food. 



The flesh and blood consumed as food yield their 

 carbon for the support of the respiratory process, while 

 its nitrogen appears as uric acid, ammonia, or urea. 

 But previously to these final changes, the dead flesh 

 and blood become living flesh and blood, and it is, 



