354 CIRCULATING FLUIDS : 



Tlie Chyle. 



True chyle, that is to say, the emulsive fluid that is found 

 after digestion in the lymphatic vessels of the intestinal canal, 

 is usually turbid, and of a white or pinkish tint, but I once 

 observed it of a blood-red colour. It is usually obtained for the 

 purpose of analysis from the thoracic duct, when, although 

 termed chyle, it is in reahty a mixtm-e of Ijrmph and true chyle. 

 Chyle, like lymph, coagulates in the course of from 8 to 15 

 minutes. The clot is soft, gelatinous, and either white (from 

 the entangled fat-vesicles) or red (in consequence of the pre- 

 sence of blood-corpuscles.) The fibrin obtained by whipping 

 fresh chyle is deficient in consistence, being sometimes merely 

 gelatinous, and cannot be washed without suffering loss. The 

 serum of the chyle appears, from my observations, (which were 

 instituted with the chyle of horses) to contain four different 

 sorts of corpuscles, viz. («) fat-vesicles which occur in large 

 numbers in milky chyle; {h) blood-corpuscles, which may be 

 numerous, few, or absent, according to circumstances; (c) round, 

 colourless, transparent, rarely granular globules, from one half 

 to thi'ee fourths the size of blood-corpuscles; I have never ob- 

 sen^ed them in the blood ; they are the true lymph-corpuscles ; 

 and [d) round, gray or colourless granular corpuscles, with a 

 clearly defined, and not tuberculated outline, half as large 

 again, or occasionally even twice as large as the blood-cor- 

 puscles ; these are the chyle-corpuscles, which are always found 

 in the blood. Fig. 12 exhibits chyle containing numerous 

 blood-corpuscles as seen under the microscope. 



Human chyle has never yet been analysed, but several ana- 

 lyses of the chyle of the lower animals have been made. Through 

 the kindness of Professor Gurlt I have had several opportunities 

 of examining the chyle of horses, and 1 have made three careful 

 quantitative analyses of it. The method of analysis was pre- 

 cisely the same as for the blood. The fibrin was removed in 

 the usual manner, and washed. A known quantity of the serum 

 was reduced to dryness, and the water thus determined ; the 

 residue was finely pulverized, and a portion repeatedly treated 

 with ether, and afterwards with spirit of "915 in order to 

 remove the fat. It was then boiled in water. The residual 

 albumen was dried and weighed. The spirituous and aqueous 



