LYMPHOSIS. 665 



this trunk, which has a similar arrangement and office with that of the 

 left side. 



The lymphatics have been asserted to be more numerous than the 

 veins; by some, indeed, the proportion has been estimated at fourteen 

 superficial lymphatics to one superficial vein; whence it has been de- 

 duced, that the capacity of the lymphatic is greater than that of the 

 venous system. This must be mere matter of conjecture. The same 

 may be said of the speculations that have been indulged regarding the 

 mode in which the lymphatic radicles arise, whether by open mouths 

 or by some spongy mediate body. The remarks made regarding the 

 chylous radicles apply with equal force to the lymphatic. 



It has been a matter of some interest to determine, whether the 

 lymphatic vessels have other communications with the venous system 

 than by the two trunks just described; or, whether, soon after their 

 origin, they do not open into the neighbouring veins, an opinion held 

 by many of those, who believe in the doctrine of absorption by the 

 lymphatics exclusively, to explain why absorbed matters are found in 

 the veins. Several of the older, as well as more modern, anatomists, 

 have professed this opinion; whilst it has been strenuously combated by 

 Sommering, Rudolphi, 1 and others. Vieussens affirmed, that, by means 

 of injections, lymphatic vessels were distinctly seen originating from 

 the minute arteries, and terminating in small veins. Sir William Bli- 

 zard 2 asserts, that he twice observed lymphatics terminating directly 

 in the iliac veins. Mr. Braey Clarke 3 found that the trunk of the 

 lymphatic system of the horse had several openings into the lumbar veins. 

 M. Ribes, 4 by injecting the supra-hepatic veins, saw the substance of 

 the injection enter the superficial lymphatics of the liver. M. Alard 5 

 considers that the lymphatic and venous systems communicate at their 

 origins. Vincent Fohmann 6 thinks, that the lymphatic vessels com- 

 municate directly with the veins, not only in the capillaries, but in the 

 interior of the lymphatic glands. Lauth, 7 of Strasburg, who went to 

 Heidelberg to learn from Fohmann his plan of injecting, announced 

 the same facts in 1824. By this anatomical arrangement, Lauth ex- 

 plains how an injection, sent into the arteries, reaches the lymphatics, 

 without being effused into the areolar tissue; the injection passing from 

 the arteries into the veins, and thence, by a retrograde route, into the 

 lymphatics. M. Beclard believed, that this communication exists at least 

 in the interior of the lymphatic glands; and he supported his opinion 

 by the fact, that in birds, in which these glands are wanting, and are 

 replaced by plexuses, the lymphatic vessels in the plexuses are distinctly 

 seen opening into the veins. Lippi 8 has made these communications the 



1 Grundriss der Physiologie, u. 8. w., 2ter Band, 2te Abtheilung, s. 247, Berlin, 1828. 



2 Physiological Observations on the Absorbent System of Vessels, Lond., 1787. 



3 Rees's Cyclopedia, art. Anatomy, Veterinary. 4 Magendie, Precis, etc., ii. 238. 



5 Du Siege et de la Nature des Maladies, ou nouvelles considerations touchant la veritable 

 action du Systeme Absorbant, etc., Paris, 1821. 



6 Ueber die Verbindung der Saugadern mit den Venen, Heidelb., 1821, und Das Sauga- 

 dersystem der Wirbelthiere, Heft 1, Heidelb., 1824; and Mem. sur les communications des 

 vaisseaux lymphatiques avec les veines, Liege, 1832. 



7 Essai sur les Vaisseaux Lymphatiques, Strasbourg, 1824. 



8 Illustrazioni Fisiologiche, etc., Firenz., 1825. 



