On the Organs of Absorption. 127 



and introduced into the sanguiferous system. It must be 

 recollected, that it scarcely requires twenty seconds to con- 

 vey these poisons from the peritoneal cavity to the spinal 

 marrow. 



The general received ideas relative to the organs of ab- 

 sorption do not admit of a doubt that the Ivuiphatic vessels 

 are the agents for conveying these poisons into the sano-ui- 

 fero'js system. Thus, in the experiment where the poison 

 was introduced into the middle of the thigh of an animal, 

 there was but one way of explaining its absorption : it 

 must necessarily be admitted that it was taken from the 

 woumi by the lymphatic vessels of the parts with which it 

 was in contact, that after being absorbed, it was carried 

 by these vessels towards the glands of the groin ; that after 

 traversing these bodies, it was conveyed, still by the lym- 

 phatic vessels, to the thoracic duct; finally, that it Was 

 introduced into the sanguiferous system by the communi- 

 cations which the thoracic duct preserves with the subcla- 

 vian veins, and principally with those of the left side. 



Such ought to have been, and such in fact was our 

 opinion at the time of the publication of the memoir upon 

 the strychnos. Nor were the experiments of which I am 

 about to give an account undertaken with a view to dis- 

 cover new facts, but rather to add a degree of certainty to 

 an explanation already admitted ; and our labours did not 

 take a particular direction, until a great number of facts 

 obliged us to modify our view of this subject. But so 

 rapid an absorption, by vessels whose principal character- 

 istics are weakness and slowness of action ; a poisonous 

 substance, that so quickly pervades the difficult and wind- 

 ing route of the lymphatic glands without any alteration 

 therein, were two circumstances that ought, perhaps, to 

 have made us entertain some doubts of the correctness of 

 the received explanation. This ex[)lanation, however, is 

 given by so many respectable persons, and is supported by 

 experiments so positive, that even now, when we have 

 many facts to oppose it, we dare not say that it wants ex- 

 actness, but only thai it is not admissible under every cir- 

 cumstance. 



Previous to any detail of our experiments, it will not be 

 useless to relate, in few words, an opinion which for some 

 time balanced the present prevailing belief relative to the 

 organs of absorption. 



This opinion, professed by Boerhaave, Haller, Meckel, 

 Ruysch, Swammcrdam, and others, was, that the sangui- 

 ferous 



