22 = Dr. Prout on the Phenomena of Sanguification, [JAN. 
The contents of the duodenum of the turkey have been 
examined by Dr. Marcet. He describes them as yielding abun- 
dant traces of albumen, and states that on bemg burned, they 
left a saline residuum of about six parts in a thousand of the 
original mass, “ amongst which the presence of iron, lime, and 
an alkaline muriate was clearly ascertained.” : 
Examination of the duodenal Contents of the Tench and 
Mackerel.—From my being unable to procure fish in their natural 
state, my examinations of these animals have not been so satis- 
factory as could be desired. In the upper portion of the intes- 
tinal canal of the tench, which had been kept, as before observed, 
for some time in an unnatural state, no traces of an albuminous 
principle could be perceived ; but lower down, where the aliment- 
ary matter was more abundant, I thought some traces of this 
rinciple were perceptible. In this animal, none of the substances 
ound in the canal were sensibly acid, or alkaline, nor coagulated 
milk. In the mackerel, the contents of the duodenum and upper 
intestines very closely resembled those of the stomach, both in 
their appearance and properties, except that they were of a more 
glairy consistence, especially about the pyloric ceca, and gave 
some faint indications of what I considered as an albuminous 
principle. 
Properties of the Chyle.—I now proceed to describe, as far as 
they are known, the properties of the chyle in three different 
stages of its progress towards the sanguiferous system; namely, 
as it exists in the absorbent vessels, or lacteals, near the intes- 
tines, as it exists in the same vessels near the thoracic duct, and 
as it exists in the thoracic duct itself. 
Owing to the minuteness of the lacteal vessels, and the conse- 
quent difficulty of collecting their contents in any quantity, the 
properties of the chyle, as it exists immediately after it has been 
absorbed from the intestines, are but imperfectly known. In 
the mammalia, it is opaque, and white like milk. In birds and 
' fishes, on the contrary, it is nearly transparent and colourless, 
The only examinations of chyle in this state of its formation, that 
I am acquainted with, are those of Emmert and Reuss,* which 
were made upon the chyle of the horse. It differed from perfect 
chyle taken from the thoracic duct, in being more white and 
opaque, in undergoing spontaneous coagulation much more 
slowly and imperfectly, and in not assuming a reddish colour on 
exposure to the air: hence it appeared to contain a very small 
proportion only of a principle analogous to fibrin, or, at least, 
this principle existed as yet in a very imperfect state, and no 
colouring principle. 
Chyle from the sublumbar branches of horses has been exa~ 
mined by Emmert and Reuss, and likewise by Vauquelin.+ 
#* See Annales de Chimie, tom. Ixxx. p. 8]. 
+ See Annales de Chimie, tom, Ixxxi, p, 113; also Annals of Philosophy, ii, 220, 
