670 ABSORPTION. 



its fibrin. More recently, he has stated, that from experiments made 

 with M. Breschet, it was evidently impracticable to procure pure lymph 

 by opening the lymphatic hearts of frogs. Blood globules always 

 existed in it; and this, he thinks, throws doubts on the view, that lymph 

 corpuscles are transformed into blood corpuscles. 



When left at rest, lymph separates into two portions; the one a 

 liquid, nearly like the serum of the blood; the other a coagulum or clot 

 of a deeper rosy hue; in which is a multitude of reddish filaments, dis- 

 posed in an arborescent manner ; and, in appearance, very analogous to 

 the vessels distributed in the tissue of organs. When a portion of 

 coagulated lymph is examined, it seems to consist of two parts : the 

 one solid, formed of numerous cells, which contains the other or more 

 liquid part; and if the former be separated, the latter coagulates. Mr. 

 Brande 1 collected the lymph from the thoracic duct of an animal, that 

 had been kept without food for twenty-four hours. He found its chief 

 constituent to be water, besides which, it contained chloride of sodium 

 and albumen: the latter being in such minute quantity, that it coagu- 

 lated only by the action of galvanism. The lymph of a dog yielded 

 to M. Chevreul, water, 926-4; fibrin, 4-2; albumen, 61*0; chloride of 

 sodium, 6-1; carbonate of soda, 1-8; phosphate of lime, phosphate of 

 magnesia, and carbonate of lime, 0*5. That of the horse yielded to 

 M. Lassaigne, water, 192-5; fibrin, 0-33; albumen, 5*73; chlorides of 

 sodium and potassium, with soda and phosphate of lime, 1-43. Total, 

 100. MM. Marchand and Colberg 2 found its constituents to be, 

 water, 96-926; fibrin, 0-520; albumen, 0-434; osmazome (and loss), 

 0'312; fatty oil and crystalline fat, 0-264; chloride of sodium, chloride 

 of potassium, carbonate and lactate of an alkali, and sulphate of lime, 

 phosphate of lime, and oxide of iron, 1'544. Total, 100-000. Gmelin 

 found, in 1000 parts of human lymph, water, 961-0; solid constituents, 

 30*74; fibrin, 5*20; albumen, 4-34; extractive matter, 3-12; fluid and 

 crystalline fat, 2*64; chlorides of sodium and potassium, alkaline sul- 

 phates and carbonates, sulphate and phosphate of lime, and peroxide of 

 iron, 15-44. M. L'Heritier 3 analyzed the lymph obtained from the thoracic 

 duct of a man who died from softening of the brain, and took nothing 

 but a little water for thirty hours preceding his death. It contained in 

 1000 parts, water, 924-36; solid constituents, 75-64; fibrin, 3-20; fat, 

 5-10; albumen, 60-02; salts, 8-25. Lymph, collected from the absorbent 

 vessels of the neck of a horse was elaborately analyzed by Nasse, and 

 found to contain in 1000 parts, water, 950; solid residue, 50; albu- 

 men with fibrin, 39-111; water extract, 3*248; spirit extract, 0-877; 

 alcohol extract, 0-755; ethereal extract, 0-088; oleate of soda, 0-575; 

 carbonate of soda, 0-560; phosphate of soda, 0-120; sulphate of potassa, 

 0-233; chloride of sodium, 4-123; carbonate of lime, 0-104; phosphate 

 of lime with some iron, 0-095; carbonate of magnesia, 0-044; silica, 

 0-067. He compared the lymph with the serum from the blood of a 

 healthy horse; and found a remarkable coincidence in the salts of the 

 two fluids. 



1 Turner's Chemistry, 4th Amer. edit., p. 567. 



2 Miiller's Archiv. Jahrgang, 1838, s. 129, cited in V. Bruns, Lehrbuch der Physiologie 

 des Menschen, s. 135, Braunschweig, 1841. 



3 Traite de Chimie Pathologique, p. 18, Paris, 1842. 



