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ON THE ACTION OF MERCURY ON THE BILIARY SECRETION, 197 
Amount of Bile secreted in Twenty-four Hours, in Grains, 
shuneml lt seeaeees 1628-00 by 02 RS. 2168-051 
in LO ee eee 1767-700 5s eRe 2941-23 
Pg 2 13e cos 2293-527 Fite Bee Bee 3148-400 
AL) ao See 1819-636 | 5 Ue amor 3 2560-300 
Piped ton ays 896680 39D eeesseveeeee 2881°500 
Tria Ukr. stents ome 1639-968 if ilGrsccct ane 2644-300 
Rely, *oac neck 518-701 Gy ee eae 2673-900 
Pete, eee 1810-450 alc iaaie eat: 1963-500 
Pen Ot ee 817-717 
Dr. Scott concluded that all the trials gave but one result, viz. “a dimi- 
nution in the amount of bile and bile solids secreted after the administration 
of large doses of calomel.” We are of opinion, however, that the diminution 
is not nearly so great as he has made it appear ; thus, for example, if in the 
first trial we set aside the results of June 12th (as Dr. Scott has done), and 
only take the amount of bile secreted during the twenty-four hours previous 
and subsequent to the administration of calomel (as Dr. Scott has done in 
the second trial), the amount of decrease will be considerably less than he 
has calculated it to be. 
Again, if we take the average amount of bile collected during two days 
previous and two days subsequent to the administration of the second dose 
of calomel, the result will be very different from what Dr. Scott’s calcula- 
tions make it. Instead of a diminution of 1121 grains, it will amount only 
to 104 grains; and we must not overlook the fact that on the day when the 
calomel was administered the dog did not get any food. 
Dr. Scott does not mention at what hour of the morning the bile was 
collected. If we suppose it was collected at 10 o’clock a.m., twenty-three 
hours would thus be left for the action of the calomel, which was ad- 
ministered at 11 o’clock a.m. on the preceding day. It might be said that 
the action of the calomel would not be exhausted in that time, and that we 
ought not, therefore, to admit the collection of bile of the 15th into the cal- 
culation for obtaining a daily average amount on the two days previous to the 
administration of the calomel. On June 18th, however, the second day after 
the second administration of calomel, the amount of biliary secretion increased 
from 518 grains on the 17th to 1810 grains on the 18th, 171 grains more 
than the quantity secreted on the 16th, a day on which calomel could not 
have had any influence on the amount. Consequently we must conclude 
that the influence of the calomel did not extend, in this case, to the second 
day after its administration ; or, if it did, it was not to diminish, but to in- 
erease very largely the secretion. Up to the present time we know little or 
nothing of the duration of the action of a dose of calomel on the biliary secre- 
tion ; so that we have no reason to assign a period of two days, rather than 
of one or of three, as the duration of its action. It would be to ascribe in 
the one case an increase and in the other a diminution to the same cause ; 
that is, the action of the mercury on the second day after its administration. 
In short, the number of Dr. Scott’s obscrvations are far too few, and not 
sufficiently long continued, to allow us to draw any definite conclusions 
from them, 
It must, I think, be evident, from this notice of all that has been previously 
accomplished, that no exact information has yet been obtained as to the in- 
fluence of mercury on the secretion of bile, or as to any other action it may 
exercise on the liver. 
