Selected monographs.

Date:: 1888

Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Selected monographs. Source: Wellcome Collection.

259/440 (page 241)

Their specific gravity, as I have found by several determina- tions, is greater than that of any of the solid abdominal glands. Mode of Fixation of the Kidney. The kidney, firmly surrounded by a tunica propria, lies comparatively loose in the envelope, called by Riolan (8i) onemhrana adiposa, by Haller (82) capsula adiposa, the name now in common use. This capsule, however, in the foetus and young subject contains no fat, but consists entirely of connective tissue. It arises from the lamina fibrosa of the fascia propria peritonei which on reaching the kidney divides into two layers, one of which runs with the peritoneum transversely over the anterior surface of the kidney, while the other passes on the posterior surface beneath the pelvis and vessels of the kidney, in which situation it joins the anterior layer again. Englisch (83) describes this membrane lying behind the renal vessels as a layer consisting of closely compressed compact connective tissue running inwards, and passing partly into the adventitia of the aorta, partly into the fascia lying over the pars lumbalis diaphragmatis. According to Englisch this layer contributes in a special manner to the fixation of the kidney and acts as a proper ligamentum .msjjensori'um renis. At the upper end of the kidney these two layers join again and separate the kidney from the supra-renal body; from the lower end of the kidney they pass as far as the brim of the pelvis, becoming thinner and thinner in their course. The anterior layer is intimately connected with the peritoneum by a fine connective tissue destitute of fat; the posterior, on the other hand, is some- what loosely united to the posterior abdominal wall and all surrounding parts. The capsule of the kidney is connected to its tunica propria by loose connective tissue with large un- dulations. It is not until the eighth to the tenth year that the wide meshes of the connective-tissue capsule begin to be filled with fat, the abundance of which frequently stands in no sort of proportion to the panniculus adiposus elsewhere. It provides the kidney with a soft cushion, protects it against the pressure of adjacent viscera, and by virtue of its softness and mobility permits a moderate amount of change of position. 16