LIVE R. 



wer is fuitatle to that of the vena portariim. 2. The ngree- 

 Itient of the properties of the bile, particularly its thick oily 

 ratnre, acrid tafte, and dark colour, with the fiippolcd pe- 

 culiar nature of the blood returned by the vena portarum. 

 This blood, it is faid, is brought from very waitn andmoilt 

 parts, loaded with fatty matter from the omenta mefen- 

 tery, &c. and with alkaline and acrimonious particles from 

 the intelllnes, particularly the large ones. Its fuppoied 

 ftagnation in the cells of the fpleen has been conceived to 

 impart to it fome further peculiar propei-ties, favourable to 

 the formation of the bile. 3. Experiments on living animals, 

 in which the fecretion has been (lopped by tying the vena 

 portarum, and not interrupted by tying the hepatic artery. 

 4. The peculiar diftribution of the v<rin, after the manner 

 of an artery, in the liver, combined with the particular qua- 

 lities of tlie blood circulating in it. 5'. The artery is larger 

 in lize in the foetus, in proportion to the greater bulk of the 

 organ, although the fecretion of bile is very fmall in quan- 

 tity at a time when digeition has not begun. 



As a proof that bile may be fccreted from arterial blood 

 a faft may be adduced, that occurred to Mr. Abernethy, 

 and is recorded in the Philofophical Tranfaclions. In a well- 

 formed and nourifiied cbild, whofe gall-blae-Ider contained 

 bile, the vena portar-.im terminated in the interior vena cava 

 near the renal veins. 



There are feverat other confiderations tending to weaken 

 our confidence in the received opinion. Much reliance can- 

 not be placed on the relative diameters of the artery and 

 du£l : if the latter be too large for the fornrer, it mull be 

 regai-ded as too fmall in proportion to the vena portarum. 

 According to Bichat there is the fame relation between them 

 as between the renal artery and ureter. 



We know of no comparative analyfis of the blood, con- 

 tained i;i the vena portarum and the hepatic artery, that war- 

 rants us in afcribing to the former qualities particularly fuited 

 to the fecretion of bile. Certaiily we do not fee in it thole 

 properties which are faid to charadlerife it : we do not dif- 

 cover oily particles in it, and we beHeve the fuppofition of 

 its imbibing any thing from the excrement to be perfeflly 

 gratuitous. Indeed Haller exprefsly acknowledges that the 

 properties, which the blood of the vena portarum mt/Jl necef- 

 farily acquire in its circulation, cannot be difcovered by che- 

 mical analyfis, Why is venous blood fo particularly fuited to 

 the fecretion of an oily fluid? are not fat, the medulla of bones, 

 and cerumen formed from materials conveyed in the arteries ? 

 That any thing acquired by the blood in the fp'een cannot 

 be eiTential, is proved by the faft, that extirpation of that 

 organ does not injure the hepatic fuiitlions. We do r.ot un- 

 dariland clearly how the retarded motion of the blood in this 

 vein (if in reality it be retarded) affids the formation t)f bile ? 

 Huw happens it that flownefs of motion is more favourable 

 to this than to any other fecretion ? We cannot reafonably ap- 

 ply inferences drawn from what takes place in an animal after 

 fuch a ferious injury as the ligature of the vena portarum or 

 hepatic artery, to the natural functions of the organ. How 

 long did the animals live after thefe experiments ? and in what 

 way were the fafts of the fecretion or non-fecretion of the bile 

 afcertained ? " Thefe different reflcftions," fays Bichat, 

 " may convince us, that our proofs ai-e not as yet fufficient to 

 decide whether the bile U fecreted from arterial or from the 

 abdominal fyllem of venous blood. I do not attribute the ftmc- 

 tioa to one rather than to the other : but merely endeavour 

 to Pnew that a, frelh examination of the queflion js neceffary, 

 and to prove by this example that the moil generally received 

 phyiiological opinions, fuch as feem to be placed beyond all 

 doubt by the concurring affent of the moit celebrated men, 

 often rell on very uncertain foundations. We arc yet far 



from the time when this fcienc; rtiall confift only of a feries 

 of fatls rigoroufly deduced one from the other." Anatoinie 

 Generale, torn. i. p. 457. 



The great fize of the liver, the number and magnitude of 

 the parts which compofe its complicated vafcular machi- 

 nery, its enormous magnitude in the early i\aj,es of fetal 

 exiftence, and its efpecial connexion with the circulating 

 organs at that period, all lead us to conclude that it an- 

 fwers fome other purpofe in the economy befides the fecretion 

 of the bile. This probability, and the reafons on which it 

 is grounded, are fo well Hated by Bichat, in his Anatomie 

 Generale, that we fhall avail ouri'elves of his labours on this 

 point. 



" From fervingas the point of termination for the abdo- 

 minal fyllem of black blood, as the lungs do for the general 

 fyllem of the fame defcription, the liver derives a degree of 

 importance, whicii does not belong to any other fecretory 

 organ. The difprnportion between the lize ef the organ 

 and the quantity of fluid it fecretes, has led fome authors 

 to fulpett that the organ mull have a further office : and 

 this fulpicion feems to be almoll a certainty. Compare its 

 excretory tubes and refcrvoir to the analogous parts in the 

 kidnies, the falivary glands, the p-.mcreas : you will find 

 them inferior to the firll, and hardly fuperior in fize to the 

 others. Yet the mafs of the liver at leall equals ail the 

 other glgnds in the body put together. This great fize of 

 the organ contrails remarkably with the fmall quantity of 

 its fecretion : calculate how much is confuraed in colouring 

 the feces, open the intellines to fee how much they contain 

 at different times, and you will be convinced that the quantity 

 of the bile is much lefs than that of the urine, not to mention 

 the other fecreted fluids, fuch as the faliva, pancreatic liquor, 

 femen, mucous fluids, &c. 



" We are altogether ignorant what the other ufe of the bile 

 may be. Probably it is connected with the abdominal . 

 fyllem of black blood. The following confiderations prove 

 that it mull be a very important one. The organ exifts in 

 almoll all claffes of animals, even where fome other important 

 vifcera are very imperfeft. Many of the paffions affed it ; 

 fome of them have an exclufive eifeft on it. It performs in 

 difeafe as prominent a part as any of the important vifcera 

 of the economy. In hypochondria, melancholia, &c. its in- 

 fluence is very confiderable. We know hov>- eafily its funftions 

 are diSurbed. If it be unconneiled with many affedlions 

 called bilious, and which have thfir feat in the ilomach, it is 

 certainly effentially concerned in the greater part. The yel- 

 lowifii tint of the face in many of thefe affections mull be 

 produced by the fame caufe, which, in a higher degree, 

 produces jaundice. The affeftions of this organ, obferved 

 after death, are more numerous than thofe of any Smilar part- 

 It is a matter of common obfervation, that this organ has a 

 great influence on the temperament. Its predominance 

 communicates to the external habit of the body, to the 

 funftions, to the paffions, even to the charafler, a peculiar 

 tint, which was obferved by the ancients, and the reality of 

 which has been confirmed by modern obfervatior. Nothing 

 like this can be obferved of tlic other glands. AVith the 

 heart and brain this is the part firll formed : its develope* 

 ment precedes that of all other organs, and is incomparably 

 fuperior to that of other glands. It has been latterly fup- 

 poied that the liver aflills the lungs in removing from the 

 blood hydrogen and carbon. I know not on what proofs 

 this affertion may reft : but the colour of the fluid is cer- 

 tainly not affefted by its palTage through the liver : neither 

 is it altered in confidence, nor in any way that can be recog- 

 nized by the touch." 



CiAtrJe of tie I'lh — There are two kinds of this fluid, 



dzfferinsr 



