A system of human anatomy : on the basis of the "Traité d'anatomie descriptive" of M. H. Cloquet / by Robert Knox.

Date:: 1830

Credit: A system of human anatomy : on the basis of the "Traité d'anatomie descriptive" of M. H. Cloquet / by Robert Knox. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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$APPENDIX. OF THE PEniTONEUM.* 3070. The Peritoneum is a serovis membrane. It is thin and translucid, has a very compUcated course, invests the inner surface of the walls of the abdomen, forms several more or less marked folds in that cavity, and is prolonged, under the form of an enve- lope, over most of the viscera wliich are contained in it, and which belong to the organs of digestion, of the secretions, and of ge- neration. The peritoneum, therefore, can only be studied with advantage after these organs are known, which is the reason that has induced us to postpone the examination of this membrane un- til now. 3071. Considered in the male, the peritoneum represents, like all the other serous membranes, a sac, without aperture, whose internal surface, to appearance smooth, but in reality covered with very fine vHlosities, and moistened with serous fluid, is every- where in contact with itself. In the female it presents at first sight the same disposition ; but is found to be perforated with . an aperture opposite the fimbriated extremity of the Fallopian tube (3049), with the mucous membrane of which it seems to be con- tinuous. 3072. To facilitate the simultaneous study of the peritoneum, and of the connexions which the abdominal viscera have with it, it is usual to divide the abdomen-f- into three large zones, distin- guished into superior, middle, and inferior, and separated from each other by transverse lines, one of which passes under the lower edge of the twelfth rib of each side, while the other extends between the two iUac crests. If we now suppose two other lines, raised vertically from the anterior and superior iUac spines to the level of the lower wall of the thorax, each of these zones will be found di- vided into three regions, one middle and two lateral. Now, the middle region of the upper zone is called the Epigastrium, \ and • Ili^!, circa; r'uvu, tcndo, _ . j f From ahderc, to conceal, because this cavity contains the principal viscera of thej body. < $ 'Eir'i, supra; yuflr:^, venirkulvs. J$