OF DIGESTION. 169 



the fluid which they convey from taking a retrograde course. They 

 are not more than the thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and are so 

 transparent, that they are not visible when empty. If a dog be 

 killed about two hours after a full meal, these vessels will be seen 

 in great numbers arising from the bowels, and filled with a white 

 milky fluid, whence they receive the name of lacteals. These ves- 

 sels unite at the right side of the spine into a trunk about the 

 size of a goose-quill, which at length pours its contents, containing 

 all the nourishment of the body, into the great vein of the upper 

 part of the body, near where it joins the breast, as may be clearly 

 seen in the preceding figure. 



There is another set of vessels, of precisely the same kind, called 

 lymphatics, which are very difficult to discover in dissection, be- 

 cause the fluid which they convey is not milky, but transparent 

 lymph. These arise from every part of the body, and have for 

 their office to remove the worn out parts, which are no longer ser- 

 viceable, and which are to be replaced by new deposits from the 

 blood. The lymph is poured into the duct which has been spoken 

 of in the preceding paragraph, and is mixed with the blood in the 

 veins, so that afterwards it may be expelled from the body through 

 the lungs, the liver, the kidneys, and the skin. The lymphatic and 

 lacteal vessels are included under the common name of absorbents. 

 They both pass through glands, which are roundish bodies about 

 the size of hazel nuts, in which the absorbents subdivide and re- 

 unite, apparently for the purpose of mixing thoroughly the lymph 

 and chyle together. For a beautiful view of the lymphatics, see 

 steel engraving in front of this work. 



The absorbent vessels and glands are very subject to disease in 

 those individuals who are of a scrofulous temperament. The glands 

 are very liable to enlarge, inflame, burst, and suppurate, particularly 

 in the neck, arm-pits, and groins, and produce sores which are very 

 tedious in healing. Sometimes in scrofulous children the larger 

 branches from the intestines become obstructed before they arrive 

 at the main duct, so that all the food .they eat (and they generally 

 have voracious appetites) never does them any good, because it 

 never gets into the circulation. Such children are generally small 

 and puny, with sharp thin faces, and large tumid bellies. Some 

 years ago, a person by the name of Calvin Edson was exhibited in 

 this city, called the " living skeleton," in consequence of having 

 been reduced so low. His weight, I think, was about forty 

 pounds. It proceeded from a disease or obstruction in the thoracic 



