THE INTERNAL CIRCULATION OF THE BILE

Those who do not appreciate the intrinsic difficulties involved in the chemical and physiologic study of the bile may look on scientific progress as rather slow in the attempts to unravel the details of its origin, movements and functions. The large size of the liver, which furnishes the fluid, as well as its conspicuous character and liberal volume, challenges attention. The unique character of the bile pigments and the bile salts also stimulates interest in their source, action and fate. Long ago the imperative necessity of distinguishing carefully between the bile-secreting and the biledischarging mechanism began to be recognized; yet only recently have the details of the movements of the bile after it leaves the liver been clearly set forth, and even today the evidence at hand regarding such features as the contractions of the gallbladder, the concentration of bile in the gallbladder and its subsequent dilution in the ducts,