200 THE HOUSE I LIVE IN. 



LACTEALS. Now there is in the human 

 body a set of little vessels called lacteals, 

 which begin in great numbers, as if by their 

 roots, in the sides of the intestines, and gradu- 

 ally uniting as they proceed along, they all at 

 length come together into one principal trunk 

 or large pipe, which might be compared to 

 the trunk or stem of a tree. These vessels 

 or their roots seem to begin on the inside of 

 the duodenum and other intestines, with open 

 or funnel-shaped mouths, with which they 

 suck up the finer or better parts of the liquid 

 there, and which, during the operation of being 

 taken up, is changed into a pearly colored or 

 milky fluid, called chyle. 



This last, after being taken up, is conveyed 

 along in the small vessels it begins with, till 

 they unite with others, like small streams with 

 larger ones. These again unite with those 

 which are still larger, until they at last meet in 

 a grand trunk or receptacle. 



From this receptacle or reservoir, one or 

 more pipes or ducts go out to carry the chyle 

 which it contains up towards the top of the 

 left shoulder. Here is a great vein, which 



