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.

  • John Hughes Bennett
Date:
1869
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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.

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    of July he ate daily 500 grammes of fat flesh. During this period the fgeces were like clay, soft, and contained a quantity of fat. The weight of the body diminished rapidly, so that on the 8th it was 8-203 kilogrammes, and on the 9th 7-750 kilogrammes. He was then lean, but lively, and had 750 grammes of flesh, pretty free from fat, divided into three portions, which he ate morning, midday, and evening. During the period he lived on flesh his hair fell out largely, and could easily be pulled out in tufts without causing pain. There was also a large development of gas in the intestines, with borborygmi and liquid faeces. About the 20th of July they assumed their natural consistence, and were brown externally, though of an ash-colour in- ternally. Each time the fistulous opening was interfered with or irritated, the faeces became softer and more liquid, and their odour more cadaverous ; while, when consistent, it was less penetratingly putrid. From August 3rd to September 1st, the food consisted of old rye-bread, of which there was consumed, on an average, daily 470 grammes, and was commenced because the dog refused all animal food. During this period its weight increased to 8 kilogrammes, the emaciation disappeared, and the falling off of the hair diminished. Indeed the hair in a few months grew abundantly, so that it presented a black shining coat, as before the operation. The appetite re- turned, and he ate greedily. The digestion was good; the faeces of firm consistence, of a yellowish-grey colour, like that of the bread, and less ofien- sive than when he was fed on flesh. Their quantity also was increased as three to two. Their average daily weight was 320 grammes ; whereas, when fed on flesh, it was 210 grammes. He also drank more. When the diet was bread, he drank daily the average quantity of 450 cubic centimetres; when fed on flesh, only 340 cubic centimetres. The quantity of bile secreted on the average, when fed upon 750 grammes of flesh and upon 470 grammes of rye-bread, is shown in the following Table:— Daily food. Weight of dog. Bile secreted daily. Bile solids daily. Bile secreted daily per kilo. Bile secreted hourly p. kil. 75ogrms.flesh. 470 grms. rye- bread. 7-750 kilogs, 7*81 a kilogs. 90-295 grms. 63-024 grms. 2-892 grms. to 3-056 grms. 1-662 grm. to 2-634 grms. 11-65 grms. 8-067 grms. 0-486 grm. 0-336 grm. From hourly observations it appears that the largest quantities of bile were secreted during the first hours after getting food; drinking water also in- creased the secretion. The dog caught cold September 1st, and died Septem- ber 3rd, from peritonitis. On September 4th the body of the animal weighed 7*512 kilogrammes. On dissection, it was found that where the ductus com- munis choledochus had been cut out, a new one three lines long was formed, having on one side of it a small collection of pus containing the ligatures. It was therefore believed that in a short time the common duct would have be^n reestablished. Round the plate of the canula a newly formed mucous membrane was discovered, continuous with the gaU-bladder. The following are the more important conclusions drawn by Arnold from the whole inquiry (p. 19):—1. Cutting off the bile from the intestines, if a sufficiently increased quantity of food can be digested, is not injurious to an animal. For two dogs of the same weight, one with and the other without fistula, the first will require five-eighths more flesh or three-flfths more bread than the second. 2. The quantity of bile secreted is influenced by the quantity and quality of the food. A dish of bread gives rise to a less secre- tion of bile than one of flesh. 3. From experiments on dogs with biliary
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