THE PATHOGENESIS OF ICTERUS

These experiments indicate that, in obstructive jaundice, the bile which escapes from the liver is absorbed by the hepatic capillaries and carried by the blood to the kidneys. The presence of a thoracic duct fistula influences in no way the development of icterus after total obstruction of the common bile duct. Bile pigments, sufficient to give a Salkowski test, may or may not appear in the lymph of the thoracic duct in such experiments, their appearance possibly depending upon the rapidity of bile secretion and the amount of lymph flow. Chronic icterus developing in an animal with a thoracic duct fistula gives an interesting distribution of bile pigments in the body fluids. The lymph and pericardial fluid contain the same amount, which is much less than the content of bile pigment in the blood serum and urine. It seems clear that in both acute and chronic obstructive jaundice the lymphatic apparatus takes no essential or active part in the absorption of bile pigments from the liver. At best, the lymphatic system is a secondary factor in the mechanism of jaundice.