White cells and lymph
A cut can let germs into your body. Which cells fight them?
Step 1 of 5
- A capillary is a tiny blood tube.
- Some liquid leaks out through its thin wall.
- The liquid drains into small tubes. Now it is lymph.
- The small tubes join into a larger tube.
- The larger tube opens into a vein.
Loading lab…
Liquid leaks from a capillary. Tap the stops in order.
The rule
White cells fight germs. Fat that you digest travels in lymph. Lymph also returns spare liquid to the blood.
Some liquid leaks out of tiny blood tubes called capillaries. Once it drains into small tubes, it is lymph. The small tubes join into larger lymph tubes. The larger tubes open into veins. So the spare liquid returns to the blood.
Take one capillary in your leg. Liquid leaks out of it again and again. Lymph carries that spare liquid away. Without lymph, the liquid would stay in the tissue.
White cells are blood cells. Some of them also travel in lymph.