132 



limbs, in which they arc best protected against external injuries. The 

 lymphatics of the parietes of the great cavities, those of the viscera 

 which these cavities contain, are likewise in two layers, the one super- 

 ficial, the other deep seated*. 



The absorbents differ, likewise, from the blood-vessels, in their singu- 

 larly tortuous course, their frequent communications, and especially in 

 their unequal size in different parts of their extent. An absorbent, of very 

 small dimensions frequently enlarges, so as to equal in size the thoracic 

 duct, then contracts and again bulges out, though in the length of the ves- 

 sel in which these differences of size may have been noticed, it may have 

 received no collateral branches. The lymphatics, when completely fill- 

 ed with quicksilver, appear to cover the whole surface of our organs; 

 and the whole body seems enveloped in a net-work of close and small 

 meshes. The metastasi"of humours, from one part of the body to an- 

 other at a distance, is easily understood by any one who has seen those 

 numerous inosculations, rendered manifest by injection. Metastasis 

 ceases to be an inexplicable phenomenon; one has no difficulty in con- 

 ceiving, how by means of the lymphatics all the parts of the body com- 

 municate freely; how, fluids absorbed by those vessels in one part, may 

 be conveyed into another, and pervade the whole body, without follow- 

 ing the circuitous route of the circulation, and that it is, therefore, not 

 altogether impossible, however improbable, that fluids taken into the 

 stomach, may be conveyed directly from the stomach to the bladder, and, 

 that in the same manner, the milk of the intestinal canal may find its way 

 into the breast; and that pus may be removed from the place in which it 

 is collected, and be conveyed to the place to which irritation calls it 

 forth. All that Bordeau has said of the oscillations and currents of hu- 

 mours, through the cellular texture, in his " Researches on the Mucous 

 Tissue," may be equally explained by the anatomosis of the lympha- 

 tics. 



A young man whom I had ordered to rub in mercury, along the inner 

 part of his left leg and thigh, for the cure of a pretty large bubo, was af- 

 fected, on the third day, with salivation, though he used only half a dram 

 of ointment at each friction. The salivary glands on the left side, were 

 alone swollen, the left side of the tongue was covered with aphthae, and 

 the right side of the body remained unaffected by the mercurial action; 

 a clear proof, that the mercury had been carried to the mouth, along the 

 left side of the body, without entering into the course of the circulation, 

 and perhaps, without passing through any of the conglobate glands; for, 

 that of the left groin, which alone was swollen, did not sensibly diminish 

 in size. Salivation may, therefore, take place, in the cure of the vene- 

 real disease, though none of the mercury enter the circulation, which 

 warrants the opinion, that the action of syphilis, as well as of the reme- 

 dies which are administered for its removal, operates chiefly on the lym- 

 phatic system. 



XLIV. If the fluids absorbed by these vessels, can, in consequence of 

 their numerous inosculations, pervade all parts of the body, without mix- 

 ing with the blood, not a drop can enter the course of the circulation, 

 without having previously passed through the glandular bodies that lie in 

 the course of the lymphatics ; dispersed like those vessels in all parts of 



* See APPENDIX, Note Q, for observations on the structure, and functions of the 

 absorbent system. 



