Secretion of Bile. 419 



accompanied by suppression of urine is always a grave disorder. 

 On the contrary a free secretion of urine during liver disease is a 

 favorable symptom. 



There is reason to believe that red blood globules are destroyed 

 in the healthy liver, producing bilirubin and urea (Landois). In 

 diseased states this becomes excessive, and the resulting coloring 

 matter is often modified, giving the strong tints, seen, in the 

 urine in fever and certain hepatic disorders. 



SECRETION OF BILE. 



The secretion of bile is but a small part of the function of the 

 liver, and that is by no means a purely eliminating process. 

 Man secretes in twenty-four hours about 10 parts per 1000 of 

 body weight, the dog 14 to 15, the cat 15 to 20, the sheep 25, the 

 rabbit 130, the Guinea-pig 170, the goose 12 (Cadeac), the horse 

 12 (Colin). But the amount varies largely ; Scott found that a 

 dog yielded 21, and Kolliker that another yielded 36 per 1000 of 

 the body weight. 



Only about one- fourth of the biliary acids (Bischoff, Voigt), 

 and one-eighth of the sulphur (Bidder and Schmidt) of the bile 

 can be found in the faeces. Most of the bile is re-absorbed from 

 the intestine and secreted anew, so that, in the course of twenty- 

 four hours, the material secreted serves the same purpose again 

 and again. During this repetition of secretion and absorption, it 

 becomes little by little metamorphosed into other products which 

 are eliminated by the lungs and kidneys (Parkes, Murchison). 



The functions of the bile so far as known are : 



a. The solution of alimentary matters, and especially of fat, in 

 the intestine, and the hastening of endosmosis, of fats and pep- 

 tones : 



b. The stimulation of peristalsis in the bowel ; 



c. Antisepsis and deodorization of the contents of the bowels ; 



d. The determination of the formation of glycogen ; 



e. The excretion of bile-coloring matter, bile acids and choles- 

 terine. 



