Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/656

 636 BILE BILIN be regarded as essentially a blood-purifying or- gan, in so far as the elimination of carbon is con- cerned. However, it is certain that when bile is not excreted freely in man, jaundice, and fre- quently certain nervous disturbances, are pro- duced, and these phenomena must be attrib- uted to the action of some of its principles. But three explanations may be given concern- ing the production of these phenomena, and we do not yet positively know which is the best. In the first place, it may be that the principles of bile preexist in the blood, and that when they are not secreted, their quantity in- creasing, they produce the deleterious influence which sometimes results in jaundice; in the second place, they may be secreted, and, in consequence of some obstruction of the bile duct, they may be absorbed, and then produce their ill effects; in the third place, they may be changed into toxical substances either in the blood or in the liver or the biliary ducts. As regards the first of these views, Lehmann has tried to prove, on good grounds, that the secretion of bile is not, like the urinary secre- tion, a mere separation of certain principles from the blood ; and therefore we may con- clude that it is not probable that bile, even if it contains toxical substances, results from a depuration of the blood. If we admit the second view, that the liver produces most of the principles of bile, and that these princi- ples are absorbed in cases of jaundice, we find that we cannot explain the toxical phenomena which then sometimes take place, because they are not constant, and they exist in cases where jaundice is or is not very considerable, while they may not appear in cases of deep jaundice. Dr. Budd has been led to the third view above stated, which is that poisonous substances are formed in the blood from the principles of bile. The function of depuration of the blood, at- tributed to the liver, seems therefore to be of much less importance than some persons have thought. Dr. Budd relates several cases in which the passage of bile into the bowels was entirely prevented by the complete closure of the bile duct, and in which, nevertheless, life was prolonged for many months. We must say, however, that the secretion of sub- stances which may, when they are absorbed, and when they accumulate in the blood, be transformed into a poison, ought in some re- spects to be considered as a depuration. It has been a much debated question whether bile is secreted from the blood of the portal vein or that of the hepatic artery. Experi- ments on animals and pathological facts have been mentioned in favor of both these opinions. When a ligature is placed on the portal vein, bile not only continues to be secreted, but the other functions of the liver also continue ; but this fact, as Brown-S6quard remarks, cannot prove that the blood of the portal vein is not necessary for these functions, as this blood after the ligature passes into the vena cava, and afterward into the arterial circulation, and therefore into the liver, by the hepatic artery. It seems very probable, indeed, from the great quantity of bile produced in a day, that the portal blood, if not the only source of the se- cretion of bile, is at least employed in a great measure for this secretion. BII.KIM l.-.l i:i;il. See BELED-UL-JEEID. BILFINGER, or Biilffiuger, (Jeorg Brrnhard, a German philosopher, born in Cannstadt, Jan. 23, 1093, died in Stuttgart, Feb. 18, 1750. The name of the family proceeds from the hered- itary possession of a sixth finger and toe, which in his instance were removed by an operation. A disciple of Wolf and Leibnitz, he was ap- pointed by Peter the Great professor of phi- losophy at St. Petersburg. He won a prize there for his improved system of fortification, and another from th"e French academy for his memoir Sw la cause dela pesanteur des corps. Afterward he became a professor of theology at Tubingen, and was appointed privy coun- cillor of Wurtemberg, in which office he de- voted himself especially to education, com- merce, and agriculture. Prominent among his many works are Elementa Physices (Leipsic, 1742) and Nouveau systeme de fortification (Stuttgart, 1734). BIUilER, Paul Rudolf von, a German chess player, born at Ludwigslust, Sept. 21, 1815, died in Berlin in September, 1840. He was a lieu- tenant in the Prussian army, and retired on account of his health. In 1840 at Berlin he played three games at once with as many dif- ferent opponents, conducting two of the con- tests without seeing the boards and men. His HandbvcTi des Schachspiels (Berlin, 1843), com- pleted and published after his death by his friend Von Heydebrand von der Lasa (4th ed., Leipsic, 1864), is still the best practical work on that game. BILIARY DUCTS, small ducts through which the bile flows from the liver and the gall blad- der to the duodenum. The main biliary duct, which leads directly from the liver to the duo- denum, gives off a branch which leads into the gall bladder, in which the gall is collected. This branch is called the cystic duct, and that part of the bile duct which leads from the liver to the junction with the cystic duct is called the hepatic duct ; while the rest of the bile duct, leading from this point of junction to the duodenum, is called the ductus communis choledochus. This is about the size of a goose quill, and three inches long. It terminates in the descending portion of the duodenum, about four inches from the pyloric extremity of the stomach. BILI, a town of Bohemia, on the .Bila, 42 m. N. W. of Prague ; pop. in 1869, 3,620. It has two castles, and manufactories of mag- nesia, beet-root sugar, cloth, and earthen flasks. It is chiefly noted for its mineral springs (alka- line), four in number. The water is clear, has a sourish taste, and a temperature of 59-66 F. The springs are not much resorted to, but from 80,000 to 100,000 flasks of the water are