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Nachdruck verboten. 



On the Relation of the Lymphatics to the Peritoneal Cavity in 



the Diaphragm and the Mechanism of Absorption of Granular 



Materials from the Peritoneum 1 ). 



By W. G-. MacCallum, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. 



The question as to the mechanism of absorption from the perito- 

 neum of insoluble materials has remained unsettled owing to the want 

 of exact knowledge as to the structure of the peritoneal tissues and 

 of the walls of the underlying lymphatics. In the literature and in 

 the text -books one still finds some uncertainty as to whether there 

 are wide stomata through which such granules are carried into the 

 lymphatics through preformed canals or a complete peritoneal and 

 lymphatic lining, so that granular materials must pass between the 

 individual cells of these membranes. In favor of the former view is 

 the work of v. Recklinghausen and his pupils — for the latter Musca- 

 tello, Kolossow and others bring forward much evidence. 



Study of the diaphragm of dogs leads us to the conclusion that 

 the peritoneal epithelium is a complete and unbroken layer of cells 

 without preformed stomata in the sense of v. Recklinghausen. The 

 cells making up this layer have the peculiar structure described by 

 Kolossow and under certain circumstances are able to retract from 

 one another to a slight degree. The lymphatics of the diaphragm 

 form a dense layer beneath this epithelium, the radial trunks which 

 lie embedded in the musculature and connected abundantly with the 

 pleural network being in free communication with one another by 

 means of arching transverse anastomoses which lie in the superficial 

 connective tissue and come thus into intimate contact with the peri- 

 toneal epithelium. These lacunae, as they may be called for the sake 

 of brevity, are separated from the peritoneal cavity only by \ thin roof, 

 which is made up of the peritoneal epithelium just described, the lin- 



1) The paper of which this is a summary will appear shortly in the 

 Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. 



