ABSORBENTS OF THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION. 299 



double their number. The, superficial, being immediately be- 

 neath the peritoneal coat, run for some distance, longitudinally, 

 on the gut, and then turn off to the mesentery at right angles. 



On the mesentery these absorbents are not rigidly bound to 

 the course of the blood vessels; they converge in a slightly tor- 

 tuous manner from its circumference to its root. They anasto- 

 mose with one another, by which their number is reduced; 

 and they also have to pass through the series of mesenteric 

 glands. The lacteals of the duodenum and jejunum are larger 

 and more numerous than those of the ileum, in the proportion 

 of the greater extent of the internal surface of the former intes- 

 tines, from the number of their valvulae conniventes. The ves- 

 sels of the mesentery, after having cleared the series of glands, 

 and held some intercourse with the lymphatics of the spleen, 

 liver, stomach, and pancreas, are reduced at last into one or 

 more large trunks, which, observing the course of the superior 

 mesenteric artery, empty near the root of the latter, but some- 

 times lower down, into the thoracic duct. 



The absorbents of the Large Intestines are much less nume- 

 rous than those of the small. They are also superficial and deep, 

 and observe the course of the blood vessels. Those from the 

 right portion and middle of the colon join the lacteals of the me- 

 sentery, while such as belong to the sigmoid flexure follow the 

 inferior mesenteric artery up to the lumbar glands. Those of 

 the rectum go partly into the lumbar and partly into the hypo- 

 gastric glands, and as its blood vessels are more numerous than 

 those of other portions of the large intestines, its absorbents are 

 in the same proportion.* 



The Absorbents of the Liver are exceedingly numerous, and 

 are also injected with unusual ease from the larger into the smaller 

 trunks, from the imperfection of the valvular arrangements. 

 They are also superficial and deep. 



The Superficial Absorbents of the upper surface of the liver 

 run in several divisions, the number of which is unsettled. 



* Cruikshank, loc. cit. 



