Analysis of the Bile of the Capuchin Monkey

Abstract

Studies in this laboratory in recent years have been concerned with the hydrogenion concentration of the bile of the guinea pig1 and dog2 with respect to the dissolution of human gall stones. Having available a series of Capuchin monkeys (Cebus fatuellus) upon which metabolism studies had been conducted, it was deemed of interest to study the bile of this species of monkey. The animals were narcotized with sodium amytal; the bile was drawn from the gall bladder without exposure to air. The hydrogenion concentration was determined by means of a glass electrode at 25° and an analysis of the principal constituents was carried out according to the Douglas-Sauermann3 method. The results on 10 animals are shown in Table I.The average pH of the bile and the percentage of various constituents present in the Capuchin monkey are similar to these data on the gall-bladder bile of dogs.2 Also as with the bile of the dog it was observed that the correlation between a high pH and high total solids content is great.