360 ABSORPTION. 



thoracic duct the chyle advances, the more is it, in all 

 these respects, developed; the greater is the number of 

 chyle-corpuscles, and the larger and firmer is the clot 

 which forms in it when withdrawn and left at rest. Such 

 a clot is like one of blood, without the red corpuscles, 

 having the chyle-corpuscles entangled in it, and the fatty 

 matter forming a white creamy film on the surface of the 

 serum. But the clot of chyle is softer and moister than 

 that of blood. Like blood, also, the chyle often remains 

 for a long time in its vessels without coagulating, bufe 

 coagulates rapidly on being removed from, them (Bouisson). 

 The existence of fibrin, or of the materials which, by their 

 union form it (p. 65 et seq.), is, therefore, certain; its 

 increase appears to be commensurate with that of the 

 corpuscles ; and, like them, it is not absorbed as such from 

 the chyme (for no fibrin exists in the chyle in the villi), 

 but is gradually elaborated out of the albumen which chyle, 

 in its earliest condition, contains. 



The structure of the chyle- corpuscles was described 

 when speaking of the white corpuscles of the blood, with 

 which they are identical. 



From what has been said, it will appear that perfect 

 chyle and lymph are, in essential characters, nearly similar, 

 and scarcely differ, except in the preponderance of fatty 

 matter in the chyle. The comparative analysis of the two 

 fluids obtained from the lacteals and the lymphatics of a 

 donkey is thus given by Dr. Owen Rees : 



Chyle. Lymph. 



Water 90-237 96-536 



Albumen 3'5i6 1*200 



Fibrin 0*370 0-120 



Animal extractive . . . . . J '565 J '559 



Fatty matter 3'6oi a trace. 



Salts 0711 0-585 



lOO'OOO lOO'OOO 



The analyses of Nasse afford an estimate of the rela- 



