Neurophysiologische Forschungen / von E. Harless.

  • Harless, Emil, 1820-1862.
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Neurophysiologische Forschungen / von E. Harless. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    tricle its proper share, aiid then apply the cut ends of the common fibres (which cross from the left to the right ventricle posteriorly) to their corresponding fibres in the left half of the septum, we sliould find that we had still a perfect whole—in other words, a complete System of external and internal spirals ; whereas the fibres of the right ventricle and its half of the septum, treated in the same way, would represent only a part of a more complete System—a portion nipped ofif, as it were, from the side of the perfect cone. Accordingly, if we would dissect the left ventricle, and especially its apex, syni- metrically, we must detach the right ventricle as if it were of no account, and dissect layer after layer of the septum pari passu with the layers of the left ventricular wall generally; on the other hand, the right ventricle can be dissected only in connexion with the left. For these reasons the Lecturer is inclined to regard the left ven- tricle as the typical one, and the right as a mere segment thereof; and in further corroboration of this opinion, he referred to the shape of the right and left ventricular cavities, as shown by casts of their interior. The left always yields a beautifully finished and perfect right-handed conical screw, while the cast of the right ventricle, although it has the same twist, represents only an incomplete portion. This Statement was illustrated by a wax-cast of the ven- tricles of the heart of a deer. In conclusion, the Lecturer remarked that the arrangement of the fibres composing the veutricles of the mammalian heart, as he had endeavoured to expose it, is characterized by comparative simpUcity, and harmonizes perfectly with what is known of the heart's move- ments. [The matters touched on by the Lecturer are more fully treated of, and the descriptions copiously illustrated by figures, in his Paper entitled On the Arrangement of the Muscular Fibres of the Ventricular Portion of the Vertebrate Heart. By James Petti- GREW, Esq. Communicated by John Goodsir, Esq., Professor of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh. Received Nov. 22, 1859.]