408 
ON THE ABSORBENTS. 
of the left lobe of the liver, and which appeared slightly enlarged, 
and containing a reddish fluid, but nothing in comparison 
with those already mentioned. Every organ of this animal ap¬ 
peared in a perfectly healthy state, except her foot, and which 
seemed to be incurably diseased. The stomach and intestines 
contained only a few ounces of food. 
As I had never heard of nor seen any case of this kind before, 
I thought it best to have the parts carefully removed, and sent 
to the College for further inspection ; accordingly a strong liga¬ 
ture was passed round the superior part of the mesentery above 
the lymphatic glands, as near the spine as possible, to prevent 
the dark red fluid from escaping: these parts were then re¬ 
moved and sent away to be examined, and which was done by 
Mr. Sewell in the lecture room, who admitted the fact of the 
lacteal vessels and lymphatic glands containing dark red blood , 
but, at the time, never attempted to give any opinion as regards 
the cause thereof. 
At various times during the day, and for some time after¬ 
wards, as long as these parts remained in a fit state, I repeatedly 
examined them, both by minute injections and dissections; and 
at last became convinced that this singular appearance did not 
arise from any disease, but that it was in consequence of a natu¬ 
ral or gradual enlargement of the second class of lacteal vessels, 
whereby they were enabled to receive a large portion of red blood 
from the extreme branches of the arteries which are given off 
from the trunks of the mesenteries, and which are for the purpose 
of supporting the lymphatic glands; and that this arose in con¬ 
sequence of the function of digestion being suspended, and the 
first class of lacteals ceasing to absorb any chyle, whereby the 
second class of lacteals became increased in power, and were thus 
enabled to absorb the surrounding fat of the mesentery, to assist 
in the support of the animal’s life. I have proved this idea to 
be correct from repeated examinations of different cases since, 
and which the following one will serve to substantiate. 
A horse was destroyed at the slaughter-house in consequence 
of having broken knees. Both joints were laid open. Previous 
to this he was reputed to have been very fat, but had, in conse¬ 
quence of suffering severe pain from this accident, fallen away very 
rapidly in flesh. On examining the abdomen there was a great 
quantity of fat on the mesentery, and the lacteal vessels nearest 
the intestines appeared in their natural state, with the exception 
of not containing chyle; while, on the contrary, those lacteals 
nearest the lymphatic glands and spine were much larger than 
usual, and, as in the former case with the lymphatic glands and 
thoracic duct, contained dark red blood. The arteries which 
