General Anatomy, Applied to Physiology and Medicine, Vol. 2 (of 3)Bichat, Xavier
Science
General Anatomy, Applied to Physiology and Medicine, Vol. 2 (of 3)
Bichat, Xavier
Human anatomy; Human physiology
The absorbents, arising from the different parts that we have pointed
out, go in different ways.
1st. In the extremities, they are divided immediately into two very
distinct courses, the one superficial, the other deep-seated. The
former accompanies at first the sub-cutaneous veins, then runs along
in their interstices; so that when injections have succeeded well,
the whole exterior of the limbs appears to be covered with a kind of
lymphatic net-work. The second goes along the muscular interstices,
principally in the course of the arteries and the veins. Both tend
towards the superior parts of the limbs. When the vessels arrive there,
they approximate each other, and are collected into a bundle, in
which they are fewer but larger than below, and which passes through
certain openings that lead them into the trunk; for example, those of
the superior extremities almost all terminate in the axilla, those
of the inferior in the groin and some in the ischiatic notch. Now as
it is a general rule, that every absorbent should pass through one
or more glands, nature has placed at these openings of communication
of the extremities with the trunk, a certain number of these glands.
Yet before arriving at them, some have already passed through similar
glands placed, in a less number, it is true, in the ham and the bend of
the arm. It is in the extremities that the absorbents run the longest
course without passing through glands.
2d. In the trunk, the absorbents take at first two courses, the one
sub-cutaneous, the other deep-seated, which is found upon the internal
surface of the parietes of the cavities, for example, between these
parietes and the peritoneum in the abdomen, between these parietes and
the pleura in the thorax. The first belongs especially to the fleshy
parietes and the abundant cellular texture that is found on them. The
second belongs to these parietes and the serous surface that lines
them. Besides these absorbents, each viscus contained in the preceding
cavities, has deep-seated and superficial ones; the first go into
the interior of the organ, we see the second on the surface. This
distinction is easily made upon the liver, the spleen, &c. The external
absorbents of the parietes of the trunk, run a long course without
meeting with glands. Those that are spread on the internal surface of
these parietes exhibit a similar arrangement. But those of the viscera
hardly come out of them, before they meet these glands, and pass
through a great number at a time, because they are very near each other.
3d. There are many absorbents upon the exterior of the cranium; but
anatomists have not yet found them in its cavity, which agrees perhaps
with the almost total absence of cellular texture in this cavity. There
are many on the face, superficially, in the muscular interstices, and
around the organs that occupy this region. They descend to the neck,
where they find in their course a very great number of glands which
they successively pass through.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account