210 



TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. 



LYMPH. 



Lymph is the clear fluid found within the tissue spaces and within the 

 lymph- vessels. Inasmuch as there are reasons for the view that lymph 

 varies in composition, as well as in function, in these different regions it 

 will be found conducive to clearness to designate the lymph found in the 

 tissue spaces as intercellular lymph, and that found in the lymph-vessels as 

 intravascular lymph. 



FIG. 90. DIAGRAM SHOWING THE COURSE OF THE MAIN TRUNKS OF THE ABSORBENT SYSTEM. 

 The lymph-vessel of lower extremities (D) meet the lacteals of intestines (LAC) at the recep- 

 taculum chyli (RC), where the thoracic duct begins. The superficial vessels are shown in the 

 diagram on the right arm and leg (S), and the deeper ones on the arm to the left (D). The 

 glands are here and there shown in groups. The small right duct opens into the veins on the 

 right side. The thoracic duct opens into the union of the great veins of the left side of the neck 

 (T). (Yeo's "Text-book of Physiology.") 



The Physical Properties of Lymph. Whether obtained from tissue 

 spaces or from lymph-vessels, the lymph presents practicallyjthe same physical 

 properties. The lymph obtained from the thoracic duct during the intervals 

 of digestion or from one of the large trunks of the leg is a clear, colorless or 

 slightly opalescent fluid having an alkaline reaction and a specific gravity 

 of i. 020 to 1.040. Examined microscopically it is seen to hold in suspen- 

 sion a large number of corpuscles similar to those seen in the lymph-glands 



