in LYMPH 117 



blood be allowed to flow into the limb, the stifFening 

 speedily ceases, the temperature of the part rises, the 

 sensibility of the skin returns, the will regains power over 

 the muscles, and, in short, the part returns to its normal 

 condition. 



If, instead of simply allowing the blood of the animal 

 operated upon to flow again, such blood, deprived of its 

 fibrin by whip{)ing. but containing its corpuscles, Ije arti- 

 ficially passed through the vessels, it will be found nearly 

 as efiectual a restorative as entire blood ; while, on the 

 other hand, the serum (which is equivalent to whipped 

 blood without its corpuscles) has no such effect. 



12. Lsmaph : its Character and Composition.— 

 Lymph, as previously explained, is the fluid whicli fills 

 the lymphatic vessels, and at the place where it is first 

 formed is a mere overflow of fluid from the blood through 

 the walls of the capillaries. This exudation of fluid may 

 also be accompanied l)y a migration of some of the 

 colourless corpuscles of the blood. Hence it is at once 

 evident that lymph may, broadly speaking, be regarded 

 as so much blood minus its red corpuscles. 



Lymph is most easily and plentifully obtained for 

 examination fiom the thoracic duct. As procured from 

 this vessel it has the advantage of being representative of 

 an average specimen of lymph, since it is a mixture of 

 fluid collected from nearly all parts of the body. But the 

 precaution must be taken of collecting the lymph from a 

 fasting animal in order to avoid the complication due to 

 admixture of the lymph from the body generally with 

 certain special substances which are taken up by the 

 lymphatics of the intestine after a meal. After a meal, 

 the lymph from the alimentary canal differs strikinuly, 

 in one respect, as we shall see later on, from that which 

 comes from it in the alisence of food. Taking lymph, 

 then, from the thoracic duct of a fasting animal, in which 

 however, the lymph from the intestine still joins the 

 lymph formed in the rest of the body, it is found 



