On the Decomposition of the Bile of the Ox- By Dr. Buchner,
jun.—M. de Gorup-Besanez, has been for some time studying, in
Dr. Buchner’s laboratory, the series of alterations which the bile un-
dergoes when removed from the economy. The mucus of the bile first
becomes decomposed, and supplies a ferment which determines the de-
composition of the fluid itself, the products of which fermentation bear
a strong analogy to those which result from the action of acids and
alkalies on the bile. Thus, by the action of hydrochloric acid, the es-
sential portion of the bile is decomposed into choloidic acid, which is
precipitated, and into two neutral and crystallizable bodies, glycocoll
and taurine, which remain dissolved with the chloride of soda, &c.
Under the operation of alkalies, in the place of choloidic acid, there is
formed the cholic of Demarcay (the chololic of Strecker); and if a
strong alkali be employed, as caustic potass, in place of glycocoll and
taurine, we have the products of their decomposition—ammonia, &c.
So, too, after the first period of the putrefactive fermentation of bile,
which is terminated in from four to six weeks, beautiful crystals of
taurine may be separated; and a resinous precipitate produced by the
action of acids, after separating the fatty matters from the residue, and
redissolving it in water, is found to be of the same composition as
choloidic add; while, if the bile has been fermented at a low tempera-
ture, crystals of chololic acid are produced—these two acids, indeed,
only differing from each other by one equiv. of H. O. Another pro-
duct due to the formation and decomposition of glycocoll, is ammonia,
the greatest portion of which escapes during evaporation. Thus, the
first phasis of the fermentation, which may be called the bilic fermen-
tation, furnishes—
1.	Ammonia, ? Products containing all the azote, and all the sulphur
2.	Taurine, 3 °f ^e fermented bile.
3.	The resinoid choloidic or chololic acid, combined with soda and
ammonia, and precipitable by a stronger acid.
A further fermentation, which may be called the tauric, is effected at
the expense of the taurine. Prisms of sulphate of soda are soon ob-
served, and as this salt does not exist in the fresh bile, it can only re-
sult from the decomposition of the taurine, the only sulphurous body
formed during the bilic fermentation. The quantity of taurine gradu-
ally diminishes pari passu with the increase of that of this salt, which
eventually entirely displaces it. The same is observed in bile which
has been purified by concentrated alchohol, in which the sulphates,
owing to their insolubility could not have existed. The sulphate is not
produced directly from the decomposition of the taurine, but by the
successive oxidation of the hyposulphite, or sulphite which is so. In
putrefied bile, too, we may always detect acetic acid, and other volatile
acids of analogous composition, especially valerianic.—Brit. Sc For.
Med. Chir. Rev. from Jour, de Pliarmacie.