130 THE INTESTINAL OEGANS. 



The bile being separated from the blood is conveyed into 

 a receptacle called the gall bladder, from which a duct issues, 

 opening into the small intestines about eighteen inches from the 

 junction of the stomach and intestines. Ruminants are all 

 furnished with this reservoir or gall bladder, so also is man, and 

 the majority of carnivorous animals, the exception being the 

 horse, in which case the bile is thrown out into the bowel as soon 

 as it is manufactured, causing at all times a constant flow into the 

 intestines of this liquid. 



"Che functtotis of the Bile. 



Bile is both a secretion and an excretion. To better under- 

 stand the meaning of these terms it may be well to define them 

 as follows: 



A secretion is a fluid manufactured in the animal body fc)r 

 further use. 



An excretion is a waste material to be eliminated from the 

 system. 



Bile contains both secretory and excretory ingredients. It 

 is a natural purgative, stimulating the action of the intestinal 

 juices and the peristaltic motion of the bowels. Besides being an 

 antiseptic, it assists in the digestion of fats. Entering the in- 

 testines close to where the chyme flows from the stomach it pre- 

 cipitates certain ingredients in that fluid, rendering them siiscept- 

 ible to the action of the juice from the pancreas. 



The quantity of bile secreted from a sheep's liver in 24 

 hours by weight amoimts to between three and five pounds. 



The liver then may be considered as the regulator of the 

 amount of sugar and fatty matter in the blood, any excessive 

 amount which is not required to support combustion accumulat- 

 ing in the various tissvies of the body. 



■Che pancreas. 



The Pancreas is an organ composed of glandular tissue 

 entirely, making a fleshy mass, hence the name pancreas, 



