CHAP. V.] THE LYMPH AND CHYLE. TPvANSUDATIONS. 225 



The Gases of the Lymph. 



The lymph contains carbonic acid, nitrogen, with, traces of oxygen, 

 all removable by the mercurial pump. The composition of the gases 

 of the lymph, especially the proportion and condition of the CO 2 

 contained in that liquid, has formed the subject of elaborate investi- 

 gation in the laboratories of Leipzig and Bonn, because of the light 

 which the investigation promised to throw on the seat of the processes 

 of oxidation in the economy. In discussing that question, in another 

 section of this work, we shall again revert to the conclusions which 

 have been drawn from the study of the gases of the lymph, though 

 we think it right to give a systematic account of these in this place. 



The first researches were made in the Leipzig laboratory, under 

 Professor Ludwig's direction, by Hammarsten 1 . They shewed that 

 pure lymph, unmixed with blood, contains either no oxygen or mere 

 traces of that gas ; that it contains C0 2 in quantity greater than is 

 contained in arterial, but smaller than is contained in venous blood ; 

 that it contains about the same quantity of N as is present in the 

 blood. The following are some of the actual results obtained by 

 Hammarsten. 



VOLUMES OF GASES (MEASUEED AT 0C. AND 760 MM. PEESSTJEE) YIELDED 

 BY 100 VOLUMES OF LYMPH, OBTAINED FEOM DIFFEEENT LYMPHATIC 

 VESSELS OF THE DOG. (HAMMAESTEN.) 



C0 2 N 

 I. Lymph from the left foreleg, quite free 



from blood . . . ' . . O'OO 41-89 112 



II do 010 4713 1-58 



IIL do. . .' . . . . 0-00 44-07 1'22 



IV. Lymph from the thoracic duct 010 37'55 T63 



V. The same lymph as IV. after being kept 



for 24 hours in ice ... 0'05 37*50 T82 



VI. Lymph from the thoracic duct, con- 



taining a little haemoglobin . . 0'04 38'88 118 



A second observer, Tschiriew 2 , pursuing the same subject, under 

 Ludwig's direction, obtained the following results, which shew the 

 simultaneous composition of the gases of lymph, of blood, and of 

 serum of blood, in dogs in an asphyxiated condition. 



1 Hammarsten, " Ueber die Gase der Hundelymplie." Ludwig's Arbeiten,l87l. 



2 Tschiriew, "Die Unterschiede der Blut- und Lyrnphgase des erstickten Ihieres. 

 Ludwig's Arbeiten, 1875. 



G. 15 



