170 ABSORPTION. 



digestion, as soon as they have been disintegrated and emulsioned 

 by the action of the intestinal fluids. As digestion proceeds, they 

 accumulate in larger quantity, and gradually fill the whole lacteal 



L A R T K A L 4 A X D LYMPHATICS. 



system and the thoracic duct. As they are discharged into the 

 subclavian vein, and mingled with the blood, they can still be dis- 

 tinguished in the circulating fluid, as a mixture of oily molecules 

 and granules, between the orifice of the thoracic duct and the right 

 side of the heart. While passing through the pulmonary circula- 

 tion, however, they disappear. Precisely what becomes of them, 

 or what particular chemical changes they undergo, is not certainly 



