Intercostal Arteries.–the intercostal arteries and veins are beautifully illustrated in the chart. The veins return the blood to the heart. The large ascending and descending venae cavae are seen in this illustration.
Meaning of artery.–from the fact that death arteries are empty, the ancients believed in to contain air, whence their name, derived from aer, air, and terco, I keep, which literally means, air ducts.
The Spleen.– the spleen is a spongy organ, of a living color, oval in figure and situated in the left upper part of the abdomen and immediately behind the stomach. It’s weight very from four to 10 ounces. It is largely composed of cells, but it’s function is little understood, though from its position is believed to be in some way useful to the stomach during the process of digestion.
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We are moving rapidfire through the section and were just about ready to come up on the next section of charts, chart 3. Shortly after chart 3 we will then hit two of the book of medicine and we will move into anatomy and physiology.
So sit back, if you’ve got any questions stop by our reception desks and ask her receptionist in the meantime enjoy our translation of the book of medicine.
As to the known purpose of the spleen today (according to Ask Yahoo! the definitive answer on everything and nothing at all)
- filtering out foreign organisms that infect your blood
- removing your old or damaged platelets and red blood cells
- storing extra blood and releasing it as needed
- forming some types of white blood cells