522 ABSOEPTION. 



This table shows a certain concentration of the lymph 

 during the first periods of starvation ; but when the vital 

 powers had become very much reduced, and death, became 

 imminent, conjoined with a great diminution in the absolute 

 quantity of the lymph there was a notable reduction in the 

 proportion of its solid constituents. 



The differences which the lymph presents in different ves- 

 sels relate chiefly to the abundance of its corpuscular ele- 

 ments. It has been said, however, that the quantity of 

 fibrin is greatest in the contents of the thoracic duct, and 

 that its proportion progressively increases from the periphery 

 to the large vessels. 1 There is no positive evidence, however, 

 that fibrin is produced by the lymphatic glands, though this 

 theory has been advanced. 



Corpuscular Elements of the Lymph. In every part of 

 the lymphatic system, in addition to a few very minute fatty 

 granules, there are found certain corpuscular elements 

 known as the lymph-corpuscles. These exist, not only in 

 the clear lymph, but in the opaque fluid contained in the lac- 

 teals during absorption. They are now regarded as identical 

 with the colorless globular corpuscles found in the blood, 

 known under the name of white blood-corpuscles, or leu- 

 cocytes. Although these bodies have been pretty fully de- 

 scribed in treating of the corpuscular elements of the blood," 

 they present some peculiarities in the lymphatic system, par- 

 ticularly in their development, which demand consideration. 



The leucocytes found in the lymph and chyle are rather 

 less uniform in size and general appearance than the white 

 corpuscles of the blood. Their average diameter is about 3 V 

 of an inch ; but some are larger, and others are as small as 

 5 oVo- f an inch. Some of these corpuscles are quite clear 

 and transparent, presenting but few granulations and an in- 

 distinct nuclear appearance in their centre; but others are 



1 LONGET, Traite de Physiologic, Paris, 1861, tome i., p. 413. 

 8 See vol. i., p. 121. 



