236 PROFESSOR RUTHERFORD ON THE 
secretion was virtually unaffected. It was now sought to determine what such 
a liver could do if stimulated. Twenty grains of sodium salicylate in 10 ce. of 
water were injected into the duodenum at s, and speedily thereafter the bile- 
secretion was enormously increased, and that so late as the ninth hour of the 
experiment. 
Result of Experiments with Hyoscyamus.—Sixteen grains of extract of hyos- 
cyamus, prepared according to the “ British Pharmacopeeia,” did not notably 
affect the biliary secretion, and did not prevent such a stimulant as sodium 
salicylate from augmenting it. From observations on the human subject, we 
are also able to state that hyoscyamus does not seem to interfere with the 
stimulating effect of euonymin on the liver, and very probably it may be safely 
given with all hepatic stimulants that are also intestinal stimulants, and happen 
to cause griping. 
ACTION OF ALCOHOL. 
It is a matter of common opinion that alcoholic drinks affect the action of 
the liver; but, whether their hepatic effects may be ascribed to the alcohol, 
ethers, or other substances they contain, no one has hitherto sought to deter- 
mine. The results of the preceding experiment already go far to determine 
the question as regards pure alcohol; but as hyos- 
cyamus had in that experiment been previously 
administered, it was desirable to perform another | 
experiment in which nothing but pure diluted 
alcohol should be administered. 
ig: 7h = Season eee ae Experiment 74. A small dog (net weighed) 
after alcohol. Atw 15 cc. of water; that had fasted eighteen hours (fig. 74).—Fifteen ce. 
at a, a’, w’, a”, 5 ec. of absolute 
alcohol with 15 ee, peas injected of water were injected into the stomach through — 
phagus tube. an oesophagus tube (w); then 5 cc. of absolute — 
alcohol diluted vue 15 cc. of water were injected into the stomach in the same 
manner at a, a; a’, and a”, 20 cc. (838 minims) being given in all. 
Result of ee with Alcohol—In Experiment 73, 13 cc. of absolute 
alcohol, and in Experiment 74, 30 cc. of absolute alcohol, moderately diluted 
and introduced into the alimentary canal, did not produce any apparent effect 
on the biliary secretion. These experiments, however, furnish no evidence of 
what might be the effects of the prolonged action of alcohol on the liver; and, in 
consideration of the great labour and length of this research, we could not un- 
dertake experiments designed to show the effects of various sorts of alcoholic 
drinks, or of the substances other than alcohol which they contain. Such 
research could scarcely be of great practical importance, for we already know 
that certain alcoholic drinks—such as ale, stout, &c.—tend to produce “bilious- 
