THE GALLBLADDER: ITS FUNCTIONS AND SOME OF THEIR DISTURBANCES IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT INVESTIGATIONS

The purpose and functions of the biliary vesicle are still debated problems (Mann,¹ Haberland,² Rost,³ Lütkens,⁴ Chiray and Pavel,⁵ Pfuhl,⁶ Westphal and Schöndube,⁷ Boyden,⁸ Blond,⁹ Babkin,¹⁰ Körte,¹¹ Moynihan,¹² Lyon,¹³ Whitaker,¹⁴ Rolleston and McNee¹⁵). The view most widely accepted regards the gallbladder as a reservoir the function of which is to supply concentrated bile whenever there is call for such in the intestine. This traditional concept, however, as may easily be gathered from the literature, does not provide the best explanation for such phenomena as the formation of biliary concretions and hydrops of the gallbladder, nor does it account for the occasional absence of clinical signs or symptoms in the presence of gallstones, and the not infrequent occurrence of typical signs and symptoms of cholelithiasis in the absence of concretions.

The appreciation of this fact, i.