. / BSORPTION 0J : FA TS. 459 
offers no explanation of the mode in which the fa1 granules get into 
the epithelial cells; he considers that the bile must essentially assist 
in the process, partially by aiding the emulsification of the Eats, and 
partially by making the surface of the epithelium capable of being 
wetted by the Eats, which naturally facilitates the absorption. He 
is Eurther of opinion that the fat globules are passed on out of 
the columnar epithelial cells by means of the contractions of the 
cell protoplasm ; and that these on their further path to the lacteal, 
apart from the small part eaten up by the leucocytes, pass in a 
free condition through the intercellular spaces, and are first broken up 
into the very fine granules characteristic of chyle when passing into 
the lacteal. 
The effects of absence of the pancreatic juice or bile on the 
absorption of fats. — The results on record as to the absorption of fat, 
when the action of the pancreatic juice is removed by excision of the 
pancreas, ligature of the pancreatic ducts, or establishment of a pan- 
creatic fistula, vary considerably : although there is a concurrence of 
opinion amongst recent observers l that the absorption of fat is 
hindered to a greater or lesser extent by the absence of the secretion. 
^Minkowski 2 and Abelmann 3 found that no fat, except that of milk, was 
absorbed after complete removal of the pancreas, and this was only 
absorbed to the extent of 28 to 53 per cent. ; the failure of absorption 
was not due to absence of fatty acids, for 80 per cent, of the ether 
extract of the faeces was found to be free fatty acid. 
Minkowski believes that the absorption of the milk fat is due to this emul- 
sion being able to withstand an acid reaction, but the absorption of other fats, 
when pancreas is given with the fat, points rather to some specific function 
of the pancreatic juice, for this pancreatic tissue could not materially alter the 
reaction of the intestine ; besides, fat absorption takes place normally from 
the dog's intestine in presence of an acid reaction. Sandmeyer 4 found in 
dogs in which the pancreas had been partially extirpated, that the amount of 
fat absorption was very variable ; occasionally no fat at all was absorbed, 
and at other times, with the same animal, 30 and even 78 per cent, of the fat 
was absorbed. 
Teichmann 5 found by microscopic examination that fat absorption in the 
rabbit was not influenced to any marked extent by ligature of the pancreatic 
duct. Fr. Midler 6 observed a considerable amount of fat absorption in a patient 
with a pancreatic fistula, A^aughan Harley ' extirpated the pancreas completely 
in dogs, killed the animals a varying number of hours after feeding on milk, 
1 On the other hand, Cohn (Bull. Acad, de mid., Paris, 1856) found that the absorp- 
tion of fat was not affiVted when the pancreatic juice was allowed to escape from a fistula. 
Cash (Arch./. Aval. a. Physiol., Leipzig, 1880, S. 323) ligatured both pancreatic ducts in the 
dog, and found that fat was still absorbed. Schiff [Jahresb. u. J. Fortschr. 'J. Thier- 
CJiem., Wiesbaden, 1872, Bd. ii. S. 222) shut out the pancreatic secretion by injecting 
paraffin into the duct, and found that fat to the amount of 120 to 150 grms. per diem was 
still absorbed. 
3 Von Mering and Minkowski, Arch. f. exper. Path. u. Pharmdkol., Leipzig, 1890, Bd. 
xxvi. S. 371. 
3 Inaug. Diss., Dorpat, 1890 ; Minkowski. Perl. Uin. Wchnschr., 1890, S. 333. 
4 Ztschr.f. Biol., Miinchen, 1895, Bd. xxxi. S. 12. See also Rosenberg, Arch. f. Anat. 
u. Physiol., Leipzig, 1896, Physiol. Abth.. S. 535. 
5 '• Mikroskoi>. Beitr. z. Lehre von der Fettresorption," Diss., Breslau, 1891. 
6 Ztschr.f. Uin. Med., Berlin, 1887, Bd. xii. S. 45. Defective fat absorption, however, 
undoubtedly accompanies disease of the pancreas, or occlusion of its duct in most cases ; see 
Bright, Med.-Chir. Trans., London, 1832; Ziehl, Deutsche vied. Wchnschr., Leipzig, 1883, 
S. 538 ; le Nobel, Dcutschcs Arch. f. Uin. Med., Leipzig. 1888, Bd. xliii. S. 285. 
7 Jo-urn. Physiol., Cambridge and London, 1895, vol. xviii. p. 1. 
