Although evidence indicating a r81e of bile in the absorption of cholesterol and fat is not lacking (l-3), the experimental limitations associated with earlier attempts to measure intestinal absorption made it difficult to obtain reliable quantitative data. The availability of C14-labeled cholesterol and C14-labeled palmitic acid now makes possible a direct attack on this problem. It is shown here that the presence of bile is an obligatory requirement for cholesterol absorption. When, in the

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... , bile is prevented from entering the intestinal tract, enterally administered cholesterol-C'4 cannot be recovered in either the thoracic duct or lacteal lymph. Bile also enhances the intestinal absorption of palmitic acid, but it is not obligatory in this regard; in spite of the complete absence of bile, small amounts of enterally administered palmitic acid-U4 were recovered in thoracic duct lymph. EXPERIMENTAL