CHAPTER V. 

 CHYLE, LYMPH, TRANSUDATIONS AND EXUDATIONS. 



I. Chyle and Lymph. 



FROM the close relationship which exists between blood and 

 lymph, and the dependence which the formation of lymph has upon 

 the blood-circulation and the blood-pressure, it is to be expected that 

 a close correspondence in the chemical constitution between blood- 

 plasma and lymph should exist. The lymph is generally considered 

 as transudated plasma. Qualitatively the lymph contains the same 

 substances as the plasma. The essential difference is of a quantita- 

 tive nature and consists in that the lymph is poorer in albumin. 

 No essential chemical difference has been found between the lymph 

 and the chyle of starving animals. After the assimilation of fatty 

 food the chyle differs from the lymph in its wealth of minutely- 

 divided fat-globules which give it a milky appearance; hence the 

 old name " milk-juice." 



Chyle and lymph, as well as the plasma, contain serum albumin, 

 serum globulin, fibrinogen, and fibrin ferment. The two last-men- 

 tioned bodies occur only in very small amounts; therefore the 

 chyle and lymph coagulate slowly (but spontaneously) and yield but 

 little fibrin. Like other liquids poor in fibrin ferment, chyle and 

 lymph do not at once coagulate completely, but repeated coagula- 

 tions take place. 



The extractive bodies seem to be the same as in plasma. Glucose 

 is found in about the same quantity as in the blood-serum 

 (v. MERING), but in larger quantities than in the blood (PoiSEU- 

 ILLE and LEFORT, GINSBERG) ; this depends on the fact that the 

 blood-corpuscles contain no glucose. The amount of urea has been 



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