EXPERIMENTS ON THE SPLEEN. 10^ 



one which may be termed the distended, and the other the 

 contracted; and that in the one its size is double what it is ' 

 in the other. In the distended state there is a distinct ap- 

 pearance of cells containing a limpid fluid, distinp;uishable 

 by the naked eye; in the contracted, these only become 

 distinct when seen through a magnifying glass. The dis- ^^ j^^^^^ 

 tended state takes place when the stomach has received un- drinking, 

 usual quantities of liquids before the animal's death ; and 

 the contracted state, when the animal has been kept several 

 days without any drink before the spleen is examined. 



That the trunk of the splenic vein (of the hog) is Splenic vein 



more than five times the size of the trunk of the splenic , ^""^^ ^f 



^ large as the 



artery. aitery. 



That, when the pylorus is secured, coloured liquids pass Liquids pass 



from the cardiac portion of the stomach into the circulation j™'" the car- 



„ . . diac portion of 



of the biood, and go off by the urine; and while this is the stomach 



going on, the spleen is in its most distended state, and the *° '^^ spleen. 

 colouring matter is found in its juices, although it is not to 

 be detected in those of the liver. The colouring matter 

 cannot therefore be conveyed to the spleen through the 

 common absorbents of the stomach, which lead to the tho- 

 racic duct. 



That, when the pylorus is open, the'colouring matter un- 

 der the circumstances above mentioned is equally detected 

 in the spleen. 



That, when the spleen is in this state, the blood in the Colouring mat- 

 splenic vein has its serum more strongly impregnated with fj^ omidinthe 

 '^ _ n J r o serum from the 



the colouring matter, than that of the blood in the other splenic vein, 



veins of the body; and when the stomach is kept without^ the stomach 



■' . _ _ r- contain a 



liquids, although colourmg matter is carried into the system licjuid. 

 from the intestinal canal by the ordinary channels, no 

 particular evidence of it is met with in the spleen or its 

 veins. 



That the csecum and the portion of the colon imme- Bjood vessel* 

 diately beyond it are found (in the ass) to be at all times occasionally 

 filled with liquids, even when none has been received into Uq'^u'idTfroin 

 the stomach for several days, and there is a greater number the colon. 

 of absorbent vessels for carrying liquids from the colon into 

 the thoracic duct, than from any other part of the body. 



The 



