The aortic system, anatomically and physiologically considered, with a view to exemplify ... the wisdom, power and goodness of God as revealed ... in Holy writ. The Warneford prize essay, for the year 1839 / by Edward Smith.

  • Smith Edward, 1818?-1874.
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The aortic system, anatomically and physiologically considered, with a view to exemplify ... the wisdom, power and goodness of God as revealed ... in Holy writ. The Warneford prize essay, for the year 1839 / by Edward Smith. 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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    of that cavity, from which circumstance the effects of con- cussion are not conveyed to the deep seated organs. The same remark which was made when treating of the pericardium re- lative to the motions of the heart not being accompanied by an injurious degree of friction is applicable here, inasmuch as the organs of the abdomen are in continual motion, which would produce precisely the same effect, if the character of the membrane was changed, as was then described. The Aortic opening in the diaphragm is also demonstrative of A^^?^?^^- the wisdom and goodness of God. We find it formed by the Diaphragm aggregation of a number of tendinous fibres, making a canal which is considerably larger than the Aortic trunk. Had this vessel passed through the muscular fibres of the diaphragm, it must have been constricted by every contraction of those fibres, and as this, in the normal state, is the chief respiratory muscle, the circulation through the vessel would have been constantly subjected to interruptions. But in the position in which we find it, no pressure whatever is exerted upon it, the tendinous fibres forming the boundaries of the canal not being subject to motion. This is also the case with other vessels, as the femoral and tibial arteries. In fact, in every instance where it is neces- sary for a large arterial trunk to perforate a muscle, we find it surrounded, and protected from pressure, by tendinous fibres. This is more particularly the case with the Aortic and femoral arteries; the latter of which is covered, for some distance before it reaches the triangular opening in the adductor magnus, by a dense fascia, which protects it from the action of the powerful muscles of the thigh. This opening is very distinct, and does not admit of any injurious pressure being exerted upon the vessel. This appears to me, to be a fact of vital importance, upon which life itself is dependent, and for which every reflec- tive individual cannot feel sufficiently grateful to the Divine Artificer of his frame. In the structure of the vascular system we sec perfect subser- Structure viencc to the design intended, in the uses to be derived from it. vessels M