138 THE FUNCTION 



loured when the chyle grows pink by the action of the air. There 

 are also much larger white particles in the chyle, appearing to 

 be formed of the caseous-like and oily principles, and, being in- 

 soluble in the serum, naturally assume the globular form. a 



Dr.Marcet had reason to believe that the appearance of creamy 

 matter floating in the serum of blood occurs most frequently when 

 the food is chiefly animal, and when therefore rich chyle is poured 

 into the blood faster than it can be assimilated. The serum at 

 first appears milky; but it gradually becomes clear, from the 

 creamy matter separating and rising to the surface. 



The coagulum of the fluid of the thoracic duct is much less 

 firm than that of blood; and after a few days, if allowed to remain 

 in a separate vessel, it passes almost entirely to the fluid state. 

 Vauquelin regards it as unfinished fibrin, something between al- 

 bumen and fibrin. 



I once saw a young married woman whose urine contained 

 very large coagula of chyle. She always dined at noon. In the 

 evening the coagula were white ; in the morning pale with pink 

 streaks. After fasting twenty-four hours at my request, the coa- 

 gula still appeared in the urine, extremely pale, and showing 

 more pink streaks : and this is the more worthy of notice, as others, 

 we see, have found chyle and lymph to grow reddish from absti- 

 nence (p. 124-.) She had been some months in this way, was 

 in very fair health, and had a great appetite, and perhaps some 

 other general symptoms of diabetes ; but there was no sugar in 

 the urine. Notwithstanding the fluid discharged seemed to 

 present as much coagulum as it did urine, the quantity of chyle 

 proved on drying to be very minute, and from its looseness to 

 have been extremely distended by the urine. As this was a 

 state of disease, I draw no inference from the case respecting 

 the time necessary for the change of chyle to blood. She would 

 not allow me to take any blood from the arm for observation. 



Similar cases have been published by Dr. Prout b , and there may 

 be several on record , but the only one besides of which I have read 

 is quoted in Shenkius. " I saw," says the author whom he quotes, 

 (in Castro Itri, Comitatus Sundorum,) " a young man, thirty years 

 of age, who daily made a considerable quantity of urine, depo- 

 siting a white substance like the curd of milk, sufficient to fill 



3 Dr. Prout, in Thomson's Annals of Philosophy. 1819. p. 275. 

 b A Treatise on Gravely &c. 2d ed. 1825. 

 c See Ephem., Dec. i. ann. i. obs.89. 



