iMiaflnB! 
BIL 
• 
Bildsteir comes from China, and is the sub- 
■li stance of which the little Chinese ornaments 
and figures of chimney-pieces are made. 
BILE is a liquid of a yellowish-green co- 
lour, an unctuous feel, bitter taste, and pe- 
culiar smell, which is secreted by the liver ; 
and in most animals considerable quantities 
of it are usually found collected in the gall 
bladder. Great attention has been paid to 
this liquid by physicians ; because the an- 
cients were accustomed to ascribe a very 
great number of diseases, and even affec- 
tions of the mind, to its agency. The spe- 
cific gravity of bile seems to vary, like that 
of all other animal fluids. When strongly 
agitated, it lathers like soap ; andfor this rea- 
son, as well as from a medical theory con- 
cerning its use, it has been often called an 
animal soap. It mixes readily with water 
in any proportion, and assumes a yellow co- 
lour , but it refuses to unite with oil ; when 
the two fluids are agitated together, the in- 
stant that they are left at rest the oil sepa- 
rates aud swims on the surface. Bile, how- 
ever, dissolves a portion of soap readily, 
and is often employed to free cloth from 
greasy spots. When muriatic acid is pour- 
ed upon bile, let it be ever so fresh, an 
odour of sulphurated hydrogen gas is con- 
stantly exhaled. When on 100 parts of ox 
bile, 4 parts of strong muriatic acid are 
poured, the whole instantly coagulates ; but 
in some hours the greater part becomes 
again fluid ; and when passed through the 
fibre, it leaves 0.26 of a white matter, which 
has all the properties of albumen. Thenard 
by a careful and repeated analysis of ox 
bile, found that 800 parts of it yielded the 
following ingredients: 
BIL 
65° and 75’, soon loses its colour and vis- 
cidity, acquires a nauseous smell, and depo- 
sits whitish mucilaginous flakes. After the 
putrefaction has made considerable pro- 
gress, its smeli becomes sweet, and resem- 
bles amber. If bile he heated, and slightly 
concentrated by evaporation, it may be 
kept for many months without alteration. 
Tiie principal use of the bile seems to be 
to separate tiie excrement from the chyle, 
alter both have been formed, and to pro- 
duce the evacuation of the excrement out 
of the body. It is probable that these sub- 
stances would remain mixed together, and 
that they would perhaps even be partly ab- 
sorbed together, were it not lor the bile, 
which seems to combine with the excre- 
ment, and by this combination to facilitate 
its separation from the chyle, and thus to 
prevent its absorption. Fourcroy supposes 
that the bile, as soon as it is mixed with the 
contents of the intestinal canal, suffers a de- 
composition ; that its alkali and saline ingre- 
dients combine with the chyle, and render 
it more liquid, while its albumen and resin 
combine with the excrementitious matter, 
and gradually render them less fluid. From 
the late experiments of Berzelius on feces, 
it cannot'be doubted that the constituents 
of the bile are to be found in the excre- 
mentitious matter: so that the ingenious 
theory of Fourcroy is so far probable. The 
bile also stimulates the intestinal canal, and 
causes it to evacuate its contents sooner 
than it otherwise would do ; for when there 
is a deficiency of bile, the body is constantly 
costive. 
Water 700 
Resin a " 
Saccharine matter 
Albumen 
Soda a 
Muriate of soda 
Sulphate of soda 
Phosphate of soda 
Phosphate of lime 
Oxide of iron 
799.7 
When bile is distilled in a water-bath, it 
affords a transparent watery liquor, which 
contracts a pretty strong odour, not unlike 
that of musk or amber, especially if the bile 
nas been kept for some days before it is 
submitted to distillation. 
Bile, exposed to a temperature between 
BILINGUIS, in a general sense, signifies 
one that speaks tw o languages ; but in law 
it is used for a jury that passes in any case 
between an Englishman and a foreigner, 
whereof part ought to be English and part 
strangers. 
BILL, an instrument made of iron, edged 
in the form of a crescent, and adapted to a 
handle. It is used by plumbers, to per- 
form several parts of their work ; by basket- 
makers, to cut the largest pieces of chesnut 
trees and other wood ; and by gardeners 
to prune trees. When short, it is called a’ 
hand bill, and when long, a hedge-bill. 
Bill in trade, both wholesale and retail, 
as also among workmen, signifies an ac- 
count of merchandizes or goods delivered 
to a person, or of work done for one. In 
those bills must be set down the sums of 
money received on account, which ought to 
be deducted from the sum total. 
Bill of credit, that which a merchant or 
