MOVEMENTS OF THE LYMPH AND CHYLE. 337 



Composition of Chyle and Lymph before reaching the Thoracic Duct. 



Chyle. Lymph. 



Water 902-37 965-36 



Albuminous matter 35*16 12 - 00 



Fibrinous matter 3.^0 1-20 



Animal extractive matter soluble in water and alcohol 3-33 , 2'40 



Animal extractive matter soluble in water only 12'33 13-19 



Fatty matter S6 . i a trace 



g ,, ( Alkaline chlorides, sulphates, and carbonates, with ) 



' ( traces of alkaline phosphates, oxide of iron \ " ^ -11 5 ' 85 



1,000-00 1,000-00 



The above analyses show a very marked difference in the proportion of solid constitu- 

 ents in the two fluids. The chyle contains about the same proportion of albumen 

 and fibrin as the lymph, with a much larger proportion of salts. The proportion of fatty 

 matters in the chyle is very great, while in the lymph there exists 'only a trace. The 

 individual constituents of the chyle given in the above tables do not demand any 

 farther consideration than they have already received under the head of lymph. The 

 albuminoid matters are in part derived from the food, and in part from the blood, through 

 the admixture of the chyle with lymph. The fatty matters are derived in greatest part 

 from the food. As far as has been ascertained by analyses of the chyle for salts, this 

 fluid has been found to contain essentially the same inorganic constituents as the 

 plasma of the blood. All of these principles are rapidly poured into the blood, where 

 they assist in supplying the material which is being constantly consumed in the process 

 of nutrition. 



The presence of sugar in the chyle was first mentioned by Brande, who described 

 it, however, rather indefinitely. Glucose was distinctly recognized in the chyle by 

 Trommer, and its existence in many of the higher orders of animals has since been fully 

 established by Colin. 



Microscopical Characters of the Chyle. The milky appearance of the chyle as con- 

 trasted with the lymph is due to the presence of an immense number of excessively 

 minute fatty granules. The liquid becomes much less opaque when treated with ether, 

 which dissolves many of the fatty particles. In fact, the chyle of the thoracic duct is 

 nothing more than lymph to which an emulsion of fat in a liquid containing albuminoid 

 matters and salts is temporarily added during the process of intestinal absorption. The 

 quantity of fatty granules in the chyle varies considerably with the diet, and it generally 

 diminishes progressively from the smaller to the larger vessels, on account of the con- 

 stant admixture of lymph. The size of the granules is pretty uniformly from & sloo * 

 TSTTO f an inch. They are much smaller and more uniform in size in the lacteals than 

 in the cavity of the intestine. Their constitution is not constant ; and they are com- 

 posed of the different varieties of fat which are taken as food, mingled together in varia- 

 ble proportions. 



The ordinary corpuscular elements of the lymph (leucocytes and globulins) are also 

 found in variable quantity in the chyle. These have already been fully considered. 



Movements of the Lymph and the Chyle. 



Compared with the current of blood, the movements of the lymph and chyle are 

 feeble and irregular ; and the character of these movements is such that they are evi- 

 dently due to a variety of causes. As regards those elements which are derived directly 

 from the blood, the lymph may be said to undergo a true circulation ; inasmuch as there 

 is a constant transudation at the peripheral portion of the vascular system, of fluids which 

 are returned to the circulating blood by the communications of the lymphatic system 

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