214 



TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. 



thelial cells with sinuous margins. At intervals between these cells 

 are to be found small frge^openings which have received the name 

 of stomytg. 



Tffl^lymph-capillaries in which the lymph-vessels proper 

 take their origin are arranged in the form of plexuses of quite irreg- 

 ular shape. In most situations they are intimately interwoven 

 with the blood-vessels, from which they can be readily distinguished 

 by their larger caliber and irregular expansions. The wall of the 

 lymph-capillary is formed by a single layer of endothelial cells 

 with characteristic sinuous outlines. These capillaries anastomose 



very freely one with an- 

 other and communicate, 

 on the one hand, with 

 the lymph-spaces and 

 on the other with the 

 lymph - vessels proper, 

 As the shape, size, etc., 

 of both lymph - spaces 

 and capillaries are de- 

 termined largely by the 

 nature of the tissue in 

 which they are found, it 

 is not always possible to 

 separate one from the 

 other. Their function, 

 however, may be re- 

 garded as similar: viz., 

 the reception and collec- 

 tion of the lymph whidT 

 has transuded through 

 the walls of the blood- 

 vessels and its transmis- 

 sion onward into the 

 regular lymph- vessels. 



The blood-capilla- 

 ries not only permit of a transudation of the liquid nutritive material 

 from the blood through their delicate walls, but are also engaged, if 

 not in the reabsorption of a portion of this transudate, at least in the 

 absorption of waste products resulting from tissue metabolism. 



Lymph-vessels. The lymph-vessels constitute a system of 

 minute, delicate, transparent vessels found in nearly all the organs 

 and tissues of the body, and take their origin from the lymph- 

 capillanes and spaces above described. From their origin they 

 gradually converge toward the trunk of the body, and finally empty 



in trv fhck fl-/-x.r. ^ n J..~j. T ,1 i * J r J 



In their course they anastomose very 



FIG. 87. ORIGIN OF LYMPHATICS FROM THE CEN- 

 TRAL TENDON OF THE DIAPHRAGM STAINED 

 WITH NITRATE OF SILVER. 5. The lymph- 

 spaces and lymph-canals, communicating at x 

 with the lymphatics, a. Origin of the lym- 

 phatics by the confluence of several juice 

 canals. B. Capillary blood-vessel. (Landois 

 and Stirling.) 



into the thoracic duct. 



