264 ABSORPTION LYMPH AND CHYLE 



The difference in chemical composition between the unmixed lymph 

 and the chyle is illustrated in a comparative examination of these two 

 liquids taken from a donkey. They were collected by Lane, the chyle 

 being taken from the lacteals before reaching the thoracic duct. The 

 animal was killed seven hours after a full meal of oats and beans. 

 The following analyses were made by Rees : 



COMPOSITION OF CHYLE AND LYMPH BEFORE REACHING THE 



THORACIC DUCT 



CHYLE LYMPH 



Water. . . . . . . r 9 O2 -37 9 6 5-3 6 



Albuminous matter . . . . ' . . . . 35-i6 12.00 



Fibrinous matter . . * . . . : , .' . . 3.70 1.20 



Animal extractive matters soluble in water and alcohol . 3.32 2.40 



Animal extractive matters soluble in water only . . . 12.33 I 3- I 9 



Fatty matters .. ... . ...... . . 36.01 a trace 



Alkaline chlorides, sulphates and carbonates, with ] 



Salts, \ traces of alkaline phosphates, and oxide of iron, j 7>I I 5 ' 85 



IOOO.OO IOOO.OO 



The above analyses show a marked difference in the proportion of 

 solid constituents. The chyle contained about three times as much 

 albumin and fibrin as the lymph, with a larger proportion of salts. 

 The proportion of fatty matters in the chyle was very great, while in 

 the lymph there existed only a trace. The individual constituents of 

 the chyle given in the above tables do not demand further considera- 

 tion than they have already received under the head of lymph. The 

 albuminous matters are in part derived from the food, and in part from 

 the blood through admixture with lymph. The fatty matters are derived 

 in greatest part from the food. So far as has been ascertained by 

 analyses of the chyle for inorganic salts, it has been found to contain 

 essentially the same inorganic constituents as the blood-plasma. 



Microscopical Characters of the Chyle. The milky appearance of the 

 chyle as contrasted with the lymph is due to the presence of a large 

 number of minute fatty granules. The liquid becomes much less opaque 

 when treated with ether, which dissolves many of the fatty particles. 

 In fact, the chyle of the thoracic duct is nothing more than lymph to 

 which an emulsion of fat in a liquid containing albuminous matters and 

 salts is temporarily added during the process of intestinal absorption. 

 The quantity of fatty granules in the chyle varies considerably with the 

 diet, and it usually diminishes progressively from the smaller to the 

 larger vessels, on account of the constant admixture of lymph. The size 

 of the granules is pretty uniformly 25Wo to T25~oo" f an mc ^ to 2 ^)' 

 They are much smaller and more uniform in size in the lacteals than 



