Editing Bile (section)

==Society and culture==
In medical theories prevalent in the West from [[classical antiquity]] to the [[Middle Ages]], the body's health depended on the equilibrium of [[humorism|four "humors"]], or vital fluids, two of which related to bile: blood, [[phlegm#Phlegm and humourism|phlegm]], "yellow bile" (choler), and "black bile". These "humors" are believed to have their roots in the appearance of a blood sedimentation test made in open air, which exhibits a dark clot at the bottom ("black bile"), a layer of unclotted erythrocytes ("blood"), a layer of white blood cells ("phlegm") and a layer of clear yellow serum ("yellow bile").<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfDNu2bWRFQC&q=Medicine+&pg=PP1|title=Medicine & Philosophy: A Twenty-First Century Introduction|last1=Johansson|first1=Ingvar|last2=Lynøe|first2=Niels|date=2008|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110321364|page=27|quote=If blood is poured into a glass jar, a process of coagulation and sedimentation starts. It ends with four clearly distinct layers: a red region, a yellowish one, a black one, and a white one (Figure 4, left) ... The lowest part of the same column consists of sediment that is too dense to permit light to pass through. Therefore, this part of the column looks black and might be referred to as the 'black bile'. On the top of the column there is a white layer, which we today classify as fibrin; it might correspond to Galen's 'phlegm'. The remaining part is a rather clear but somewhat yellowish fluid that surrounds the coagulated column in the middle. It might be called 'yellow bile', but today we recognize it as blood serum.|access-date=2015-04-23}}</ref>

Excesses of black bile and yellow bile were thought to produce depression and aggression, respectively, and the Greek names for them gave rise to the English words [[cholera]] (from Greek χολή ''kholē'', "bile") and [[melancholia]]. In the former of those senses, the same theories explain the derivation of the English word bilious from ''bile'', the meaning of gall in English as "exasperation" or "impudence", and the Latin word ''cholera'', derived from the Greek ''kholé'', which was passed along into some Romance languages as words connoting anger, such as ''[[wikt:colère|colère]]'' (French) and ''cólera'' (Spanish).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDsqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10|title=Pain: A Very Short Introduction|last=Boddice|first=Rob|date=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-873856-5|pages=10|language=en}}</ref>

===Soap===
Soap can be mixed with bile from mammals, such as [[ox gall]]. This mixture, called bile soap<ref>{{cite journal|title=The invention of certain improvements in the manufacture of soap, which will be particularly applicable to the felting of woollen cloths.|journal=The London Journal of Arts and Sciences; and Repertory of Patent Inventions|year=1837|first=W. |last=Newton|volume=IX|pages=289 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GhMAAAAAMAAJ&dq=bile+soap&pg=RA19-PA291|access-date=2007-02-08}}</ref> or gall soap, can be applied to textiles a few hours before washing as a traditional and effective method for removing various kinds of tough stains.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m85TAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Ox+gall+contains%22|title=The Modern Soap and Detergent Industry: The manufacture of special soaps and detergent compositions|last=Martin|first=Geoffrey|date=1951|publisher=Technical Press|pages=15|language=en}}</ref>

===Food===
[[Pinapaitan]] is a dish in [[Philippine cuisine]] that uses bile as flavoring.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.angsarap.net/2013/08/13/pinapaitan/|title=Pinapaitan - Ang Sarap|date=2013-08-13|website=Ang Sarap (A Tagalog word for "It's Delicious")|access-date=2016-06-05}}</ref> Other areas where bile is commonly used as a cooking ingredient include [[Lao cuisine|Laos]] and northern parts of [[Thai cuisine|Thailand]].

During the [[Boshin War]], [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]] soldiers of the early [[Imperial Japanese Army]] reportedly [[Human cannibalism|ate human livers]] boiled in bile.<ref>{{cite book |last1=牧原 Makihara |first1=憲夫 Norio |title=文明国をめざして |date=December 26, 2008 |publisher=小学館 Shōgakukan |location=Japan |isbn=4096221139}}</ref> The practice of eating a slain enemy's liver, known as {{Nihongo|''[[hiemondori]]''|冷え物取り}}, was a tradition of the Satsuma people.

=== Bears ===
In regions where bile products are a popular ingredient in [[Traditional Chinese medicine|traditional medicine]], the [[Bile bear|use of bears]] in bile-farming has been widespread. This practice has been condemned by activists, and some pharmaceutical companies have developed synthetic (non-ursine) alternatives.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2015/apr/09/bear-bile-china-synthetic-alternative|year=2015|title=Is the end of 'house of horror' bear bile factories in sight?|journal=The Guardian|author=Hance, J.}}</ref>