STATUS LYMPHATICUS AND DIS ORDERS OF THE LYMPHATIC SYS TEM.
General Considerations.—In addition to the closed channels which carry the blood in a continuous round through the arteries, capillaries, and veins, there is another complementary system of vessels, found in every tissue and organ of the body supplied with blood-vessels, whose currents flow in one direction only, from the periphery to the centre. and discharge into the great veins near the heart the fluids which have been absorbed in the solid tissues of the body (for plate, see ADENITIS, volume i). The fluid con tained in these vessels is nearly or quite colorless, especially in thin layers, and from its appearance is called lymph; the vessels with the lymphatic glands con stitute what is known as the lymphatic system. In their anatomical structure the vessels resemble the veins; injury and disease affect them in a similar manner. These vessels functionate as absorbents, and are the principal carriers of septic in fection from the periphery to the cen tral circulation. The serous flow from wounds, which necessitates the employ ment of drainage, comes from severed lymphatic vessels. The lymphatics are involved in all wounds. The numerous superficial lymphatic plexuses of the skin readily absorb antiseptic or poisonous solutions applied to the surfaces, and ex plains remedial action or poisoning, as the case may be. The amount of lymph
in circulation is greater in youth than in advanced life, and the lymphatic glands are more highly developed and active; hence the greater frequency of disorders of the lymphatic glands in early youth. The lymphatic glands are scattered along the course of the lymphatic vessels and form part of the lymphatic system.
Status Lymphaticus (Lymphatism; Constitutio Lymphatica). — This is a somewhat rare condition observed chiefly in children and young persons, in which the lymphatic glands and lymph-tissues throughout the body (the spleen, the thymus gland, and the lymphoid bone marrow) are in a condition of hyper plasia. This general lymphatic hyper plasia has been found associated with rachitis and with hypoplasia of the heart and aorta. These pathological condi tions, having been found frequently in cases of sudden death, give them special interest. Paltauf and others of the Vienna school have studied this condition closely, and believe that persons who suf fer from this hyperplasia. have lowered powers of resistance and are particularly liable to cardiac paralysis. In England and this country this condition has re ceived little consideration.