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CHAPTER X. 
Plate XIX. — the lacteals, and thoracic duct. 
The figure in this plate represents the course of the food, from its 
entrance at the mouth to its assimilation with the blood; a, the (esoph¬ 
agus, extending from the pharynx to, b, the stomach ; where the ali¬ 
mentary matter, having undergone the digestive process, is converted 
into chyme, a soft, homogeneous substance, and escapes at c, the py¬ 
lorus, into, d, the intestines. In ttys plate a large portion of the lat¬ 
ter is spread out to show a part of the absorbent system, called lac- 
teals : these collect and imbibe the chyle, or milky juice from the 
chyme, and transmit it through e, c, the mesenteric glands, into one 
general receptacle, /, (receptaculum chyli ,) from which, g, the tko 
racic duct ascends in a more or less tortuous direction to the lower 
vertebrae of the neck, and after forming an arch, it descends and 
enters h, the left subclavian vein . at the point where that vein is 
united with the internal jugular . The absorbents of the right side 
frequently form a trunk, which enters the right subclavian rein. 
