A cholagogue is a substance that is purported by
humoral practitioners to encourage the discharge of
bile
Bile (from Latin ''bilis''), or gall, is a dark-green-to-yellowish-brown fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is produced continuously by the liver (liver bi ...
from the system,
purging it downward. Deployment is no longer recommended because the biliary purge, like the traditional kidney purge, can cause pancreatic problems.
In Patrick O'Brian's ''
Post Captain'' (Ch. 10), which is set in the Napoleonic era,
Stephen Maturin, one of the book's main characters (who is also a physician, naturalist and spy) sits in the snug of the Rose and Crown in
Deal, Kent
Deal is a coastal town in Kent, England, which lies where the North Sea and the English Channel meet, north-east of Dover and south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town whose history is closely linked to the anch ...
, and drinks a "good" tea described as an "unrivalled cholagogue".
Cyclovalone is a choleretic and cholagogic agent.
References
* Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). ''
Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences'' (first ed.), ''s.v.'' "Cholagogue".
*''Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary'', 1913 Edition.
*''Patrick O'Brian ''Post Captain'', 2002 paperback edition, page 315.
External links
*
Laxatives
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