517 



The Pressure of Bile Secretion and the Mechanism of Bile 



Absorption in Obstruction of the Bile Duct. 



By Percy T. Herring, M.D., and Sutherland Simpson, M.D., D.Sc. 



(Communicated by Professor Schafer, F.R.S. Received May 1, — 

 Read June 27, 1907.) 



(From the Physiological Laboratory of the University of Edinburgh.) 



In the course of a series of experiments which were made for the purpose 

 of determining the mode of entry of bile into the lymphatics of the liver 

 during obstruction of the common bile duct we had occasion to measure the 

 pressure of bile secretion in several animals. Our results were so different 

 from the figures generally given that we have ascertained the maximum 

 pressure of bile secretion in a number of dogs, cats, and rabbits, in two 

 guinea-pigs, and in two monkeys. The first part of the present paper deals 

 with the pressure of bile secretion ; in the second part the mechanism and. 

 site of bile absorption are discussed. 



We are indebted to Professor Schafer for help and advice in our work.. 

 The expenses of the research have been defrayed by a grant from the Moray 

 Fund for the prosecution of research in the University of Edinburgh. 



Part I. — The Pressure of Bile Secretion. 

 Previous Observations. 



Estimations of bile-pressure were first recorded by Friedlander and 

 Barisch (5). These observers found that the maximum pressure attained by 

 the bile in guinea-pigs varies between 184 and 212 mm., measured in terms 

 of the height of a column of bile and water. Their method of procedure 

 consisted in ligaturing the common bile duct near the duodenum, and tying a 

 cannula into the fundus of the gall bladder which was then brought forward 

 into the abdominal wall. A vertical glass tube was connected to the cannula 

 by rubber tubing, the animal placed on its side and a millimetre scale affixed 

 to the vertical tube so that the zero mark was opposite the fundus of the 

 gall bladder. The bile mounts in the tube at first rapidly, then with 

 decreasing speed until a maximum is reached. The column of fluid moves 

 up and down with the respirations of the animal, and sinks again after a 

 maximum is attained. 



Heidenhain (8) in 1868 published the results of a number of experiments 

 on bile secretion, and among them were several in which the bile-pressure 

 vol. lxxix. — b. 2 p 



