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Show 166 the Absorbent Vessels Of the particular Distribution (f ed from the great intflstinlcls, Though very little chylc may be absorb the fluids of surfaces :nb ced s, the absorbents are necessary to remove sometimes renloyedxan‘ , 3:: hes The solid parts of these intestines are also 1 edit" absor cnts ere (WEN/ now just these purposes, as I have or even medicines tienp- tended occasionally to take up nutritious fluids, ons where they could not )0 situati in , cavities these into thrown selves applied to the usual surfaces. THE TIIORACIC DUCT. union of which the tho-r Having pointed out the principal vessels, by the an opportunity here 0 take shall I ng, beginni its racic duct is formed at the absorbent. system; describing more particularly this principal trunk of other vessels which ente; after which I shall return to the description of the lcftsubclawan vein.1 , 1 it, through its course along the spine, toward the inferior trunlt, w iici and shorter but must take notice also of a second, . terminates in the right subclavian vein. Bartholm,‘ appears to be exThe name thoracic duct, first used by Tho. n as it does lll‘LlIC gho- tremelV improper, as it lies as much in the abdome -ol‘the aosor ent rax, and by no means conveys the idea ofthc principaltrunk , 1s couallly system. The name of duetus chylifer, given it by Albinus lymph than cny e, more, perhaps or much, as carries it since r, imprope the caya inand many other fluids besides. Boerhaave compared it With Iheie minor. ferior; in which reSpect it might be Considered as a cava nts and the is also some analogy between the second trunk of the absorbe ~ . , _ cava superior. ng, by a The first discoverers of the thoracic duct described it as beginni cle, or the cisternf pyriform bag, to which they gave the name of the recepta y arises 01"th of the chyle. In quadrupeds, particularlyin dogs, it actuall my C. outlthc pour and te, termina laetcals the which in cavity, a large r, ut 1n cane, in " In bruiis animalibus plerisque chyli cisterna reperitu suc,4c-rinace'o, box c, quo priinum est inventa; in lupo,leonc, urso, phoca, In these animals, " Ampulla chyhlcr insignis sc- capella, cervo, equo." thoracici diametro latior, ovahs e1 longior, in ductus omni det, multo ‘nalcmC; . ie , .. super tenant .. lactea ' ‘ vasa quam conlluunt, liEC, quw diximus, in tbs dfiifitwt Paris of Me Body. 167 ct ductus lymphatici magni lumbalcs Ct hepatici." Hallelu-This dcscription by no means agrees with what we commonly find in the human thoracic duct. I do not say that a receptacle of the chylc never exists in the human body.» I have seen it sometimes; but much more frequently there is none. Haller says, " Neque in hominem nunquam ea fabriea repe- ritur; etsi nuperrores seriptores eisternam solcnt exagitare. Sexies eerie inter 21 cadavera httmana, in quibus ductnm thoracicum ostcndi, ampullam vidi." At any rate, the name of receptacle of the chyle is improper, as it conveys an idea that the thoracic duct received nothing else than chylc; which its first discovereis, as they knew nothing of the lympliuties, really believed was the Case; but as we now ltnow that this trunlt of the system receives the lymph pretty constantly, and the chyle only at certain periods, and as the lacteals are seldom inserted into the receptacle, even when it is found, I shall avoid the term. The thoracic duct begins much lower down than has commonly been ima- gined, and is situated at first on the third vertebra of the loins, on the left side. of the spine, instead ofon the first vertebra ofthc loins, and on the right side ofthe spine, as has been asserted. I have commonly injected it from the glands of the groin, on both sides, and by this means have seen its origin more distinctly. I'Ialler‘s method was by no means so proper. He says, " Si solinn ductum tlioracicum denionstrare volueris res nulliiis est dilficulLads-Inquires enim \"t'l in ms lympliaticum aliquod ante sinistrain vcnam renalcm adrepcns qualiu nunquam non adsunt, vcl in vas lumbale ad latns aortae sub renali dextra artcria ct vcna latens." \Vc have no op- portunity, as in quadrupeds, of making ligatures in the livingr body, on the upper end of the thoracic duct, and seeing it [ill itself with chyle. The thoracic duct begins by the union of three trunks, as I formerly observed; one of these is the trunk of the absorbents of the right leg, the second is the trunk of the absorbcnts of the left leg, and the third is very commonly the trunk of the laetcals; these, by their union, sometimes form a globular cavity, half an inch in diameter, lying on the second vertebra of the loins. At other times, the three trunks lie parallel to each other for an inch or two, before they unite; during which period they are u'rapt up in the same covering of the cellular membrane; and, when cut across, without |