Some observations on the structure of the mesenteric glands in the balaenoptera rostrata / [John Reid].

  • John Reid
Date:
[1835]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Some observations on the structure of the mesenteric glands in the balaenoptera rostrata / [John Reid]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    portions that exist in the bones. He has promised to make a more accurate analysis ; and we will then see how far they differ from, or agree with, the osseous texture in their chemical com¬ position. It may also be stated, that the animal matter seemed composed in a great part of gelatin ; but this would require far¬ ther researches. It becomes an interesting subject of inquiry, whether these bodies are formed by a desposition of the earthy salts contained in the blood, mixed with some of the animal matter, or whether this depends upon some vital action in the fluids, corresponding to the formation of the osseous texture. Neither Beclard nor Cloquet give any opinion upon the cause of their formation. The fact of their being only found in the depending veins, where the flow of blood is retarded, and the improbability of the for¬ mation of any osseous texture in the interior of these vessels, strongly favour the notion of their being merely depositions from the blood, as urinary calculi are from the urine; while the na¬ ture of their formation, the gradual conversion of the fibrinous layers into osseous, the radiation of the ossific matter through the fibrinous clots, and their chemical composition (if their simi¬ larity to bone is confirmed,) must strongly incline us to ascribe their origin to something more than mere physical or chemical laws. Additional observations, by furnishing more extensive data, may enable us to come to more decisive conclusions on this interesting question. 4.—Case of Obliteration of the Vena Cava Superior at its entrance into the Heart. By John Heid, M. D. President of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. Dukixg the course of last month, (December 1833,) the vena cava superior was observed to be obliterated at its entrance into the heart, in one of the subjects in Dr Knox’s Practical Dissect¬ ing-Rooms. This obliteration was about two inches in extent, and formed, in the usual situation of the vein, a rounded cord of a cartilaginous feel, firmly connected to the surrounding parts, particularly to the anterior surface of the right bronchus, at the division of the trachea, by firm cellular tissue. Around it, particularly at the lower part, were several calcareous de¬ posits, apparently connected with the bronchial glands. On the inner surface of the auricle, the entrance of the vein was only marked by a slight depression, and the auricle at this part formed a kind of digital pouch. From the advanced state of the dissection when this circum¬ stance was discovered, it was difficult to trace the channels through which the blood must have passed to the vena cava
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