CHAPTER X. 



Tab. XIX. — the lacteals, and thoracic duct. 



'' The figure in this plate represents the course of the food, 

 from its entrance at the mouth to its assimilation with the 

 blood ; a, the (esophagus, extending from the pharynx to, 6, the 

 stomach ; where the alimentary matter, having undergone the 

 digestive process, is coverted into chyme, a soft, homogeneous 

 substance, and escapes at c, the pylorus, into, d, the intestines. 

 In this plate a large portion of the latter is spread out to show 

 a part of the absorbent system, called lacteals : these collect 

 and imbibe the chyle, or milky juice from the chyme, and 

 transmit it through e, e, the mesenteric glands, into one general 

 receptacle,/, [receptaculum chyli,) from which, g, the thoracic 

 duct ascends in a more or less tortuous direction to the lower 

 vertebrae of the neck, and after forming an arch, it descends 

 and enters h, the left subclavian vein, at the point where that 

 vein is united with the internal jugular. The absorbents of 

 the right side frequently form a trunk, which enters the right 

 subclavian vein. 



