ABSORBENTS OF THE PARIETES OF THE TRUNK. 307 



The Intercostal Absorbents take their origin from the parietes 

 of the thorax, and following the course of the respective inter- 

 costal arteries, pass through some small glands occasionally 

 found between the external intercostal muscles near the heads 

 of the ribs. They are there joined by trunks from the spinal 

 cavity and from the muscles of the back, and afterwards passing 

 through some small glands on the front of the vertebral column,, 

 they anastomose more or less with one another, and finally ter- 

 minate in the left thoracic duct. The absorbents of the pleura 

 costalis and of the posterior part of the pericardium terminate 

 in the intercostals. 



The Internal Mammary Absorbents have their roots in the 

 anterior region of the parietes of the abdomen, above the umbi- 

 licus, where they anastomose with the epigastric. They ascend, 

 along with the internal mammary arteries, behind the sternal 

 cartilages, pass through some small glands, and receive contri- 

 butions from the anterior extremities of the intercostal spaces. 

 Those of the left side, assembling into one or two trunks, cross 

 in front of the left subclavian vein, traverse the inferior cervical 

 glands, descend afterwards from this point, and terminate in the 

 left thoracic duct, or in one of the contiguous trunks of the ve- 

 nous system. Those on the right execute the same movements, 

 but terminate in the right thoracic duct, or in one of the conti- 

 guous venous trunks of that side. 



The Absorbents of the Diaphragm areexceedingly numerous, 

 and very much connected with those of the liver. The ante- 

 rior ones join the internal mammary absorbents, while the pos- 

 terior follow the phrenic arteries, or go to contiguous trunks 

 belonging to the intercostals. The front ones on the right side, 

 then terminate in the right thoracic duct, while the remainder 

 go in the various routes of the absorbents, with which they are 

 connected, into the left thoracic duct. They are principally 

 seen on its upper surface. Mr. Cruikshank* says, that he once 

 saw them to the amount of three hundred or more, filled with 

 chyle from the mesentery that had passed through the substance 

 of the liver. Asellius was, therefore, probably justified by an. 



