FORMATION OF LYMPH. 331 



size of the flow of lymph is, as HEIDENHAIN suggests, no measure of the 

 abundance of supply of nutritive material to the organs, and the lymph- 

 tubes act according to him as " drain-tubes/' removing the excess of fluid 

 from the lymph-fissures as soon as the pressure therein rises to a certain 

 height. Attempts have been made to determine the quantity of lymph 

 flowing in 24 hours in the thoracic duct of animals. According to 

 HEIDENHAIN the quantity averages 640 cc. for a dog weighing 10 kilos. 



Determinations of the quantity of lymph in man have also been 

 attempted. NOEL-PATON 1 obtained 1 cc. of lymph per minute from the 

 severed thoracic duct of a patient weighing 60 kilos. The quantity in 

 the 24 hours cannot be calculated from this amount. In the case of 

 MUNK and ROSENSTEIN, 1134-1372 grams of chyle were collected within 

 12-13 hours after partaking of food. In the fasting condition or after 

 starving for 18 hours they found 50 to 70 grams per hour, sometimes 120 

 grams and above, especially in the first few hours after powerful muscular 

 exercise. 



Several circumstances have a marked influence on the extent of lymph 

 secretion. During starvation less lymph is secreted than after partak- 

 ing of food. NASSE 2 has observed that the formation of lymph in dogs 

 is increased 36 per cent more after feeding with meat than after feeding 

 with potatoes, and about 54 per cent more than after 24 hours' depriva- 

 tion of food. In this connection mention must be made of the important 

 observations of ASHER and BARBERA 3 that with pure protein diet the 

 lymph current is increased in the thoracic cavity, and also that the increase 

 in the lymph secretion runs parallel with the elimination of nitrogen in 

 the urine, i.e., with the absorption of the protein from the digestive tract. 



An increase in the total quantity of blood, as by transfusion of blood, 

 also especially on preventing the flow of blood by means of ligatures, 

 causes an increase in the quantity of lymph. According to HEIDENHAIN, 

 on the contrary, a very considerable change in the pressure in the aorta 

 causes only a little change in the abundance of the lymph-flow. The 

 quantity of lymph may be raised by powerfully active and passive move- 

 ments of the limbs (LESSER) . Under the influence of curare, an increase 

 of the lymph secretion is observed (PASCHUTIN, LESSER 4 ), and the quan- 

 tity of solids in the lymph is also increased. 



The bodies inciting lymph-flow, the so-called lymphagogues, are of 



1 Journ. of Physiol., 11. 



2 Cited from Hoppe-Seyler, Physiol. Chem., 593. 



3 The works of Asher and collaborators, Barbara, Gies, and Busch, upon lymph 

 formation may be found in Zeitschr. f . Biologic, 36, 37, 40. 



4 Lesser, Arbeiten aus der physiol. Anstalt zu Leipzig, Jahrgang 6; Paschutin, 

 ibid., 7. 



