Researches into the action of mercury, podophylline, and taraxacum on the biliary secretion : being the report of the Edinburgh Committee of the British Medical Association / by John Hughes Bennett.

  • Bennett, John Hughes, 1812-1875.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Researches into the action of mercury, podophylline, and taraxacum on the biliary secretion : being the report of the Edinburgh Committee of the British Medical Association / by John Hughes Bennett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    49/52 (page 231)
    portion to the rest of the body than it is in more advanced age.. To ascer- tain whether or not there be anything in this idea would require observations to be made on dogs of various sizes and ages. The biliary secretion, amount and nature of food, and weight of the animal would require to be observed for three or four days; the animal ought then to be immediately killed and its liver weighed, and calculations based on such data. It is, however, improbable that the size of the liver determines the amount of the bihary secretion; the great variation which we frequently observed in the secre- tion from day to day in the same animal is opposed to such an idea. Effect of the loss of Bile tjpok the Health of the Animal. Although an animal may live in perfect health for a considerable time without any bile passing into its alimentary canal, it would appear, from the observations of all who have experimented on the subject, that, even when a fistula has been established without accident, the health sooner or later begins to suffer. Emaciation comes on, and death results from inanition. Much depends on the strength of the animal, which, when vigorous, usually preserve their health. Dog 7, the retriever sent us by Dr. Kelburne King of Hull, had the operation for biliary fistula performed on April 24, 1868. Notwithstanding the wearing of apparatus for collecting the bile during a period of nearly two months, partial poisoning with corrosive sublimate, purgation with podophylline, and dosing with taraxacum, the animal was on the 11th of September, 1868, when our observations terminated, as strong as it was before the fistula was made ; and so far from exhibiting any signs of emacia- tion, it had gained nearly 4 kilogrammes (8*8 pounds) in weight during the five months it lived, without a drop of bile passing into the intestines. Such a case favours the view of Blondlot and Arnold, as to the inutility of the bile for the purposes of digestion. It is in itself quite sufiicient to show that the entrance of bile into the alimentary canal is not essential for the health of the animal, and supports the idea that the bile is a secretion destined to be little more than a mere excretion. Effect of Muscular Movements upon the Flow of the Bile. It was frequently observed that when the dogs were taken out of their cages, in which their movements were much circumscribed, and allowed to run about, that during the first half hour or so of their increased movement the amount of bile discharged by the fistula was greatly augmented. This was in ail probability due to the bile being more rapidly expelled from the hepatic ducts by the pressure upon the liver of the contracting abdominal muscles, which must, when in action, compress the liver like a sponge, and so expel its contained fluid. This fact is valuable in serving to show that exercise may have an important influence upon the liver. It further points out, however, how utterly fallacious must the results have been had we endeavoured to estimate the daily secretion of bile from collections made daring a few minutes at a time, such as were made by Bidder and Schmidt, regarding which, however, we have previously expressed our opinion. It is unnecessary to dwell upon the importance of the results which the Committee have taken so much pains to arrive at. If the refutation of a widespread error be as important as the establishment of a new truth, the practical advantage of demonstrating that mercury is not a cholagogue can- not be too highly estimated. Although in recent times the administration of