96 COMPAEISON OF LYMPH, CHYLE, AND SERUM. 



duct of a man who died from softening of the brain, and who took noth- 

 ing but a little water for 30 hours preceding his death. (L'Heritier.) 



Composition of CJiyle after Fasting. 



Water ,... 924.3G 



Fat 5.10 



Fibrin 3.20 



Albumen 60.02 



Salts 7.32 



1000.00 



The constitution of the chyle so nearly approaches that of the lymph, 

 Comparison of ^ iat we aie autnor i ze ^ to conclude that, during fasting, the 

 lymph and lacteals transmit lymph, and the conclusion gives force to 

 the observation already made, that the albumen of chyle is 

 derived rather from the blood capillaries than from the digested food. 

 Comparison of ^ n com P arm g together the salts of the serum of the blood 

 the lymph and and those of the lymph as obtained from the horse, they ap- 

 pear to coincide. 



Salts of Serum and Lymph. 



From the indications presented in these tables, there can be no doubt 

 that the office of the lymphatics is to collect the albuminous 



Office of the x 



lymphatic sys- matters which have every where transuded from the blood- 

 vessels, or been set free by changes going on in the soft 

 parts. Such matters, though they may be regarded as being in one 

 sense dead, are yet as applicable for the further support of the mechan- 

 ism as are the albumenoid bodies introduced as food, and said to be 

 taken up by the lacteals. The last table shows that the lymph is really 

 nothing but a diluted serum. A mechanism is therefore resorted to to 

 turn this collected albumen into fibrin, and thus arises a lymphatic gland 

 a contrivance which tends greatly to compactness. This structure is 

 Structure of ^ ie countei T art ^ tne mesenteric or lacteal gland. It may be 

 lymphatic described as originating from the coalescence of two or three 

 lymph vessels, which, casting off their external coat as they 

 enter the gland, anastomose with one another in various ways, so as to 

 form plexuses and convolutions. The capsule of the gland, strengthen- 

 ed by the coat it has received from the entering vessels, sends forth par- 

 tition-like processes, which dip down into the grayish pulpy material 

 filling the interstices. On their emergence from the gland the vessels 

 recover from it their external coat, and, during their passage through it 

 in their naked state, blood-vessels are distributed upon them. The ob- 



