The fact that the secreted fluids are destined to be thrown out, a fact which is incontestable with regard to the urine, the bile which colours the excrements, the saliva, &c. has made me for a long time believe that the introduction of these fluids into the sanguineous system, would produce the most serious consequences. I was besides confirmed in this, 1st, by my experiments, in which I have always seen, as I have said, the urine, the bile, &c. injected into the cellular texture, remain without being absorbed, but producing abscesses; 2d, by the infiltration of the urine in the neighbourhood of the bladder, from which abscesses always arise; 3d, by the serious consequences from the effusions of this fluid in the peritoneum from the high operation for the stone, and of the bile on the same surface in certain penetrating wounds, in both these cases these fluids never re-enter the blood by way of absorption, like the peritoneal serum, but almost always occasion death; 4th, by an experiment in which I had seen a dog die shortly after the injection of urine into the jugular. All these considerations made me suspect that the secreted fluids, introduced again into the mass of blood, were always fatal at the end of some time, and that, as some physicians whose opinion is of great weight have thought, all that has been said of the bile’s being poured into the blood in bilious diseases, is but a consequence of vague ideas of the reality of which there is no proof. Yet the importance of this question, in regard to medical theories, has induced me to resolve it by experiments, so as to leave no doubt upon the subject. I have then injected into the jugular veins of many dogs bile taken from the gall-bladder of other dogs which I opened at the same time. For the first few days they appeared to be weary, did not eat, were much altered, their eyes were heavy, and they were constantly lying down; but after some time they gradually regained their former vigour. I afterwards employed human bile in these experiments; the result was the same, except that many times, the animal had hiccough and vomiting some time after the injection. In one instance a dog died in three hours after the experiment; but it was because I made use of that extremely black fluid that is sometimes found in the gall-bladder instead of bile which resembles thick ink, and which appears to form a considerable part of those black vomitings that sometimes take place.