178 ANALYTIC SECT... XIE 
to the nourishment on which it is reared. Chyle 
from vegetables contains, according to Dr. Marcet, 
more carbon than chyle formed from animal sub- 
stances. Chyle contains all the integrant particles 
of the blood. 
cceccxui. The chyle is taken up by the lac- 
teal absorbents, and conveyed by them into the 
thoracic duct, which finally empties it into the 
right subclavian vein. The jarring opinions 
respecting the capability of the lacteals to absorb 
other substances beside chyle, have been already 
noticed, and need not be repeated here. It is 
obvious, that if the lacteals absorbed every thing 
presented to their mouths, the faecal matter which 
would in that case be taken into the circulation, 
would be productive of serious inconvenience ; 
but that they are exclusively appropriated to 
absorb the chyle, is a matter still to be ascertained. 
ccccxLu. A sufficient supply of nutritive 
aliment is the best guarantee of health and lon- 
gevity. If starvation were as salutary as hypo- 
thetical physiologists would represent, and plenty 
pernicious, then ought the nobility of these king- 
doms to be the shortest lived individuals in it, 
whereas the contrary is notoriously the case. 
Enjoyment and health are to be found neither 
in fasting nor gluttony; debility and excitement 
are equally productive of disease. 
