PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTIONS OF DRUGS ON THE SECRETION OF BILE. 157 
Results of Experiments with Aloes.—1. Sixty grains of the extract of Socotrine 
aloes, when placed in the duodenum, without bile, powerfully stimulated the 
liver, causing the coefficient of secretion to rise in Experiment 11 to 0°69 cc., 
and in Experiment 12 to 0°93 cc. The doses given were, however, so excessive 
—the maximum dose for a man being 6 grains—that it would be misleading to 
infer that the small doses given to man produce a decided effect on his liver. 
Yet we have definitely proved that this substance really does increase the 
secretion of bile. 2. Under its influence the liver excreted a greater 
quantity of biliary matter in a given time, although the bile was rendered more 
watery. 3. Coincident with the marked action on the liver there was only 
slight purgation. 
ACTION OF RHUBARB. 
As rhubarb gives to the dejections an appearance similar to that due to an 
increased discharge of bile, it is not possible from observations on the human 
subject to arrive at a definite conclusion regarding its influence on the liver. 
In consequence of this, in the latest works on Materia Medica, its action on 
the liver is ignored. The following experiments, however, prove that it 
stimulates the liver. The ordinary infusion of the “British Pharmacopceia” was 
made with Indian rhubarb; it was then filtered and concentrated until 5 ce. 
contained the active part of seventeen grains of rhubarb. This was the dose 
employed. ‘Thirty grains is the maximum dose for a man. 
Experiment 13. Dog that had fasted fifteen hours. Weight 22:2 kilogrammes. 
—5 cc. of the above infusion of rhubarb were injected into the duodenum four 
} 
Experiment 13. 
\| | 
Secretion of || | Secretion of 
Secretion of | bile per kilo- || tare | bile per kilo- 
bile per 15”. | gramme of } Bion 1 | gramme of 
dog: per | dog: per 
hour. hour, 
ce. ec 
LS hoa 
095 \ ose | 8 |) 
0:80 | 1°45 os ce. 
r— | 14 
0 *O5 I 7 UL, we 2h I 
1:3 2°0 j 
aa es boon ce, ! , | | 
1155) 14 1 2 3 4 5 
Lg 1°45 Fig. 13.—Secretion of bile befor 
1-45 0°27 ce. 115 ig. 13.—Secretion of bile before and after 5 cc. of 
14 1-4 a concentrated infusion of rhubarb were injected 
into duodenum at 7, 7’, 7°”, 7”. 
times in succession (7, 7”, 7’, 7”, fig. 13). Within half-an-hour after every 
| dose there was an increase in the biliary secretion. 
VOL. XXIX. PART I. 
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