On the nature and treatment of the diseases of the heart : containing also and account of the musculo-cardiac, the pulmo-cardiac and the veno-pulmonary functions / by James Wardrop.

  • Wardrop, James, 1782-1869.
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the nature and treatment of the diseases of the heart : containing also and account of the musculo-cardiac, the pulmo-cardiac and the veno-pulmonary functions / by James Wardrop. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    54/636
    Astley Cooper. Cerebral arteries— structure of. Haller. Batio of the comparative size of the carotid and vertebral arteries in animals. Effects of long necks. arteries of rabbits are compressed, it is followed by instant death. Before concluding these remarks on the peculiarities in the arteries of the brain, and which I have deemed it es- sential to bring together in conducting our inquiries on the pathology of the heart, there are likewise some peculiarities in the structure of these vessels, and in their mode of distri- bution after they have entered the cranium, which are here worthy of notice. All the branches of the cerebral arteries contained within the skull have a thin, sohd, and more brittle substance than the other arteries of the body 5 and as the size of these ves- sels cannot be much diminished, from the incompressible nature of the cerebral pulp, they do not require to possess those powers of dilatation and contraction like the arteries of the external and soft organs. Comparative anatomy assists us in this, as in most other physiological inquiries ; and it appears that, throughout the different races of organized beings, the magnitude of these two sets of vessels—the carotids and the vertebrals—always has a certain ratio with the brain of the class of animals to which they belong. In proportion, therefore, as the an- terior or intellectual part of the cerebrum is small, so we find the size of the carotids diminish; and, on the other hand, as the anterior portion increases, so the carotids be- come large. And it has been made a general remark, observes Bichat, that animals with long necks, in whom the brain is necessarily far from the heart, the heart cannot excite the brain so vigorously ; their intelligence is more limited, con- sequently the cerebral functions are more narrowed. On the contrary, those animals who have short necks and consequently in whom the brain and heart more closely approach, commonly have a corresponding mental energy. Mankind, who have the head placed far above the shoulders, compared with those in whom it is very close, sometimes offer the same phenomena. ^ , . , a A Roman Emperor, to show the certainty of h.s hand.