Medical and physical researches, or, Original memoirs in medicine, surgery, physiology, geology, zoology, and comparative anatomy / by R. Harlan.

  • Harlan, Richard, 1796-1843.
Date:
1835
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical and physical researches, or, Original memoirs in medicine, surgery, physiology, geology, zoology, and comparative anatomy / by R. Harlan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    ON ABSORPTION. of rhubarb, madder, alkanet, and cochineal, the latter, both simple and rendered purple by the addition of carbonate of potass. Our practice generally was, to select a portion of small or large intestine, secure it by a ligature at both ends, inject at or near the temperature of the animal, and then return the part into the abdomen, or attempt to retain its warmth by artificial means. Where the canal contained much fluid, it was removed, but the small quan- tity which is naturally found on the mucous membranes, was suffered to remain. In some instances the lining sur- face was rendered as clean as possible. In all these cases, after a short interval, the lacteals, if originally colourless, continued so, and if filled with white chyle, became co- lourless and transparent. In this result, we are compelled to differ from the recorded authority of Hunter, and to agree with the observations of Magendie, Flandrin, Tiede- man, and Gmelin. An elective process with regard to colour, is well known to take place in the common healthy operations of digestion ; as the alimentary tube is filled with substances of various original colours, and below the duodenum deep- ly stained with bile, and notwithstanding this, the chyle is always of the same pure and uniform white. In his experiments to ascertain this point, Bichat was not more successful than ourselves, or than the above named authors. J'ai repete souvent cette experience, says this writer, (i le fluide injecte, a ete bientot absorbe, mais non la matiere qui le colorait; en sorte que cette matiere, plus condensee apres Pabsorption, teignoit la sur- face sereuse ; les lymphatiques etant transparens, comme a l'ordinaire.—Anat. Gen. Vol. IV. p. 519. Mascagni was induced to believe the reverse of our conclusions, from the following observations. 1. The hy- dropic fluid varies in density and colour in different ca- vities, and it was always observed, that the neighbouring lymphatics contained a fluid exactly analogous. 2. In