110 Messrs. Dore'e and Gardner. Origin and [Dec. 18, 



corpuscles. The increased viscosity, which Afanassiew correlated with 

 certain changes observed by him in the liver tissue, causes a hindrance 

 to the flow of bile, and since the bile formation is, perhaps, increased beyond 

 the normal, leads to icterus. When the action of the toluylene diamine 

 ceases — according to Afanassiew owing to the removal of the hindrance 

 which opposes the bile flow — the amount of bile increases again, possibly 

 even above the normal. These statements made it appear probable that the 

 cholesterol of the red corpuscles destroyed would appear in the bile, along 

 with the bile colouring matter. By careful measurements of the quantities 

 of bile produced in dogs in which permanent fistulse had been established in 

 a satisfactory manner, and by estimations of cholesterol in the bile, by 

 methods which do not seem to us open to objection, before and after the 

 administration of toluylene diamine, Kosumoto showed that this was the 

 case. The conclusion seems to be justifiable that a part at any rate of the 

 cholesterol of the bile arises from the d4bris of the normal destruction of red 

 blood corpuscles in the liver. 



On the other hand, the percentage of cholesterol in the fistula bile of dogs 

 does not appear, according to the investigations of Goodman,* to depend 

 upon the cholesterol content of the food taken by the animals, a result in 

 accordance with the work of previous observers. Goodman made the 

 interesting observation that with a diet of 725 grammes of coagulated white 

 of egg, which contains little or no cholesterol, he was able, during five days, 

 to collect 477 grammes of bile containing 0"208 gramme of cholesterol, whilst 

 with a diet of 488 grammes of calves' brain, which is very rich in cholesterol, 

 he obtained in four days 367 grammes of bile containing 0145 gramme of 

 cholesterol, so that the percentage content in cholesterol of the bile excreted 

 in these two diets was - 0436 in the case of the white of egg, and - 0395 in 

 that of brain. It seems probable, therefore, that the cholesterol of the bile 

 is not derived directly from the food, and some of it at any rate is the result 

 of the elimination of the cholesterol of dead blood corpuscles, and possibly 

 also the cUbris of other tissues, by the liver. On the other hand, this 

 cholesterol can in no sense be regarded as a waste product, as we have 

 shown in previous papers f that herbivorous animals do not excrete 

 cholesterol or any recognisable derivative of that body in their faeces, 

 although their bile contains considerable quantities, in the case of the cow 

 for example 007 per cent.t Further, in the case of the dog any cholesterol 

 found in the fasces can be entirely accounted for by the cholesterol contained 



* ' Hofmeister Beit.,' 1907, vol. 9, p. 91. 



t 'Koy. Soc. Proc.,' B, vol. 80, p. 12. 



\ ' Journal of Physiol., Proc.,' 1907, vol. 36, p. ix. 



