370 LECTURE XV. 



It has been known from of old that the liver is the 

 organ, which is by far the most liable to fall into a state 

 of fatty degeneration, and the knowledge of this state 

 has long been derived from popular experiment. The 

 history of the pates de foie gras proves this in the most 

 agreeable manner, although M. Lereboullet of Strasburg 

 maintains that the fatty livers of geese are physiological 

 ones, essentially different from the pathological ones 

 which are not eaten, but only observed. However, I 

 must confess that I have hitherto been unable to discover 

 the difference between physiological and pathological fatty 

 livers ; on the contrary, I believe that it is only by ad- 

 mitting the identity of the two that correct notions with 

 regard to the pathological fatty liver can be obtained. 

 We are namely acquainted with a fact which was like- 

 wise first observed by Kolliker, that in sucking animals, 

 a few hours after digestion has taken place, a kind of 

 fatty liver is a constant physiological occurrence. When 

 of the same litter of animals some are made to fast, 

 while others are allowed to suck, those which have 

 sucked have a fatty liver a few hours afterwards, whilst 

 the others have not. The fatty liver appears quite pale, 

 though certainly not so white as a goose's liver. This 

 observation led me to examine the question of the rela- 

 tion of the fat to the liver a little more minutely, and 1 cer- 

 tainly think we may positively conclude that there does 

 exist a close connection between the physiological and 

 pathological forms. 



I found, namely, that a short time after the hepatic cells 

 display this repletion with fat, a similar condition is found 

 in the course of the biliary ducts, and that both in them 

 and in the gall-bladder the epithelium presents the same 

 appearances which we have witnessed in the intestinal epi- 

 thelium during the absorption of fat. You only require 

 therefore to invert the picture we just now considered 



