OF THIS STRUCTURE AKD FUNCTIONS OP THE SPLEEN. 31 



Dr. Stearns of New York, is of opinion that the gall-bladder is not passive in the 

 reception of the bile, and that it is not a mere receptacle for this fluid. He supposes 

 that the cystic duct acts as an absorbent, selecting 1 from the bile in the hepatic duct, ita 

 more active ingredients, which are carried into the gall-bla ider, where they remain 

 until "some peculiar irritation" of the mouth of the common duct, by the passing 

 chyme or by some other stimulating cause, solicits its discharge, in a gradual manner, 

 for the purpose of purging the intestines. In support of this opinion he refers to the 

 experiments of Dr. Douglass, of the same city, who found that the bile which passed 

 clirectJy from the hepatic duct into the intestines was bland and harmless, and was 

 mixed with the chyme, and thus seemed to aid, as shown by the very conclusive ex- 

 periments of Mr. Brodie, in the formation of the chyle, and of the new materials for 

 the nourishment of the body ; whilst the bile found in the gall-bladder was always bit- 

 ter, pungent, and viscid. 



These properties, however, of the cystic bile may supervene without any election 

 being exerted by the cystic duct in the process ; for if we suppose, what is most pro- 

 bable, that during the empty state of the duodenum the bile flows into the gall-bladder, 

 where its more bland and fluid portions are removed by the numerous absorbent ves- 

 sels with which the gall-bladder and its ducts &re provided, and where, during its 

 retention, its elements combine in such a manner as to modify the characters of the se- 

 cretion, and to render them very different from those which it evinced immediately 

 after its formation, we have a sufficient reason for the more pungent qualities, of cys- 

 tic bile. It seems by no means unlikely, therefore, that the change takes place in the 

 bile itself within the gall-bladder, and that it is promoted by the temperatui-e and vital 

 influence of the system. 



With respect to Dr. Stearns's opinion, that the gradual flow of the cystic bile into 

 the intestines serves the purpose of a gentle purge or stimulus to their functions, it ia 

 by no means new ; but we have no more proof that it acts the part of a purge, than 

 that it performs the office of an astringent. How is it, if this opinion be correct, that 

 diarrhoea, or a lax state of the bowels, is so often observed during the interruptions of 

 the biliary secretion, and especially of the cystic bile ? 



After the full detail of the results of Mr. Brodie's con elusive experiments we need 

 not.state at greater length modern views upon the subject. In the note upon the function 

 of respiration, we will briefly notice some peculiarities connected with the functions of 

 the liver and conditions of the bile. 



Of the Structure and Functions of the Spleen* 

 Note N. 



Although considerable attention has been paid to the physiology of the spleen, yet 

 its functions are but imperfectly understood. They have, indeed, been variously ex- 

 plained by philosophers, but all have erred, chiefly in endeavouring to assign to it one 

 definite function only, which they consider it to perform under all the circumstances 

 which influence the body. Thus, Malpighi, Haller, Blumenbach, Richerand and 

 Fodere, imagine this organ to be subservient in its functions to those of the liver. 

 Hewson believed it to be destined to the elaboration of the globules of the 

 blood. Tiedemann, and Gmelin are of opinion, that it is intimately Connected with 

 the absorbent system, and that it assists the process of sanguifaction. Haighton and 

 Moreschi, consider that it is subordinate to the stomach in the process of digestion; 

 and many pathologists believe that it permits, in consequence of its peculiar texture, 

 accumulations of blood to take place within it during certain stages of disease, and 

 that it thus prevents more vital organs from suffering injury to which they would other- 

 wise be liable. To us, however, it appears more rational, and certainly more consis- 

 tent with the operations which characterize the economy of the more perfect animals, 

 to view the functions of this organ as intimately relating to those which the absorbent, 

 circulating, and secreting systems perform, and as including several of the operations, 

 just specified, to a greater or less extent, according to the influence to which the body 

 is subjected. 



In order to learn the nature of the offices which the spleen performs in the animal 

 economy, it ought to be our first object to ascertain correctly its structure ; that is, 

 however, a matter of gveat difficulty. The attention of anatomists has lately been par- 

 ticularly directed to the subject, and Home, Heusinger, and Hopfengaertner, have been 



