1896-97.] Prof. Fraser on Properties of Bile of Serpents. 465 
of healthy bile ; and the therapeutic value of cholagogue substances, 
so long employed on empirical grounds, may thus also obtain a 
satisfactory explanation. 
Bile is produced in large quantity by all animals, and it is 
present in the intestinal canal throughout its whole length ; hut 
beyond the fact that it is an important excretion, removing waste 
products from the body, its functions are not known to be of high 
value. So much is this the case, that a recent authority has re- 
marked, “ the bile is a most elaborate secretion ; it is poured into 
the intestine, and finds apparently little to do.” * To such recog- 
nised functions of the bile as the promotion of fat absorption and 
those dependent upon its laxative and indirect antiseptic properties, 
there may now be added the additional function of rendering inert 
many organic poisons introduced into or produced in the alimentary 
canal, 
* Halliburton : A Text-look of Chemical Physiology and Pathology 3 1981 3 
