Lymph: Kind of Like Blood Except It's Not

You probably know about the body's extensive network of arteries and veins. Maybe less familiar is the distribution of another network of vessels that are similar to veins, but not as extensive. Instead of transporting blood, they carry a clear fluid called lymph (pronounced "limf") that is similar to plasma (the liquid part of blood). As nutrients seep from the blood into the tissues, the lymphatic system collects this fluid (which is now called lymph) along with any associated wastes and returns it to the blood. Lymph is a great place to fight microbes and it's filled with lymphocytes and other white blood cells. Before the lymph gets recycled into the bloodstream, lymphocytes work to identify any harmful microbes so they can be destroyed.