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, chairman and reporter.

  • British Medical Association. Edinburgh Committee.
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, chairman and reporter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    14/52 (page 196)
    from these experiments that, when mercury is administered in the form of calomel, either in small or large doses, it does not pass so rapidly into the bile, nor produce the marked increase of the biliary secretion that medical men imagine. It is much to be regretted that hr. Mosler did not measure the bile passed during these experiments, which would have given far more value and precision to his observations. Scott.—The only other experiments made to determine the influence of mercurial preparations or, rather, of calomel on the biliary secretion with which wo are acquainted are those of Dr. Scott, who deserves great credit for the careful and scientific manner in which he has carried them out. We shall have occasion, however, to indicate some circumstances which seem clearly to show that they must be regarded rather as valuable contri- butions to aid us in determining the influence of calomel on the biliary secretion than as data which, of themselves, warrant any definite conclusion; indeed Dr. Scott himself has fully admitted the truth of this remark. Dr. Scott made four trials with calomel, in which he estimated the amount of increase of the biliary secretion by taking the average of two days previous and of two days subsequent to its administration. In the first trial 3 grains of calomel were given to the dog at three o’clock p.m. on the 13th of June*. The daily average amount of bile secreted on the 11th and 13th of June was 1960 grains, and that of bile secreted on the 14th and 15th, 1358 grains, showing an average diminution of 602 grains for each of the two days subsequent to the administration of the calomel. In the second trial 6 grains of calomel were administered at eleven o’clock a.m. on the 16th of Junet. The amount of bile secreted during twenty-four hours, and collected on the morning of the 16th, was 1639 grains, and of that secreted during the subsequent twenty-four hours, and collected on the 17th of June, was 518 grains, indicating a diminution of 1121 grains in the biliary secretion during twenty-four hours after the administration of the calomel. In the third trial 12 grains of calomel were given at 4.30 p.sr. on the 3rd of July, the average daily secretion of bile for two previous days (2nd and 3rd of July) amounting to 3044 grains, and that for the two subsequent days (4th and 5th of July) to 2720 grains, showing a diminution of 324 grains on the average daily quantity of bile secreted after the administration of the calomel. In the last trial 12 grains of calomel were given at 5.45 p.m. on July 7th; the daily average amount of biliary secretion on the two preceding days (the 6th and 7th) being 2658 grains, and on the 8th and 9th July being 1724 grains, showing a diminution of 934 grains in the daily average quantity of bile secreted after the administration of the calomel. We subjoin a Table of the daily amount of fresh bile collected for several days, in order that our subsequent remarks may be intelligible to the reader. The “ f ” before the dates indicates the days on which calomel was ad- ministered. * The bile secreted during twenty-four hours was always collected oil the morning of the day indicated. The amount obtained on June 12th was not used in calculating an average, as a considerable quantity was lost in collecting it. t The amount of bile collected on the 15th was not used in making an average, pro- bably because Dr. Scott supposed the secretion of the previous twenty-four hours was still under the influence of the calomel.