The Gall Bladder The gall bladder is located between the small intestine and the liver. Bile produced in the liver is stored when it is not needed for digestion. When it enters the gall bladder it changes, losing water and salt which are absorbed through the lining back into the bloodstream. Up to 90% of the water is lost which means that ten times as much bile can be stored in its concentrated form. The gall bladder a capacity of 50 millilitres (0.11 pints) which could store the volume of bile produced by the liver in one hour. Yet with the water removed the gall bladder can store a more concentrated form of the bile and collect the amount produced by the liver in ten hours. The gall bladder usually fills when no food is being eaten and empties when chyme reaches the duodenum, although occasionally it will release bile when there is irritation of the small intestine.

Bibliography Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th Edition. (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1986) Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 7. (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1970) The Book of Popular Science Encyclopaedia. (New York: Grolier, 1961) The Software Toolworks Multimedia Encyclopaedia, Release 6. (New York: Grolier, 1996) Encarta 96 Encyclopaedia. (Redmond: Microsoft, 1996)