Anatomy, Comparative; Embryology, Human; Evolution; Human beings -- Origin
(FIGURE 2.381. Transverse section of the head of a chick-embryo,
thirty-six hours old. Underneath the medullary tube the two primitive
aortas (pa) can be seen in the head-plates (s) at each side of the
chorda. Underneath the gullet (d) we see the aorta-end of the heart
(ae), hh cervical cavity or head coelom, hk top of heart, ks
head-sheath, amniotic fold, h horny plate. (From Remak.)
(FIGURE 2.382. Transverse section of the cardiac region of the same
chick-embryo (behind the preceding). In the cervical cavity (hh) the
heart (h) is still connected by a mesocard (hg) with the gut-fibre
layer (pf). d gut-gland layer, up provertebral plates, jb rudimentary
auditory vesicle in the horny plate, hp first rise of the amniotic
fold. (From Remak.))
Thus the thoracic cavity of the mammals, with its important contents,
the heart and lungs, belongs originally to the HEAD-PART of the
vertebrate body, and its inclusion in the trunk is secondary. This
instructive and very interesting fact is entirely proved by the
concordant evidence of comparative anatomy and ontogeny. The lungs are
outgrowths of the head-gut; the heart develops from its inner wall.
The pleural sacs that enclose the lungs are dorsal parts of the
head-coelom, originating from the pleuroducts; the pericardium in
which the heart afterwards lies is also double originally, being
formed from ventral halves of the head-coelom, which only combine at a
later stage. When the lung of the air-breathing Vertebrates issues
from the head-cavity and enters the trunk-cavity, it follows the
example of the floating bladder of the fishes, which also originates
from the pharyngeal wall in the shape of a small pouch-like
out-growth, but soon grows so large that, in order to find room, it
has to pass far behind into the trunk-cavity. To put it more
precisely, the lung of the quadrupeds retains this hereditary
growth-process of the fishes; for the hydrostatic floating bladder of
the latter is the air-filled organ from which the air-breathing organ
of the former has been evolved.
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