A description of a very unusual formation of the human heart / by James Wilson.

  • Wilson, James, 1765-1821.
Date:
[1798]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A description of a very unusual formation of the human heart / by James Wilson. 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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    arose from the right ventricle, and the pulmonary artery from the left; the reverse of what ought, in the regular course of cir- culation, to have taken place; (the veins were as usual;) and no communication was found between the one vessel and the other, except through the remains of the ductus arteriosus, which was not larger than a crow quill, and a small part of the foramen ovale, which still continued open; yet this child lived for two months. In the following case of monstrous formation of the heart, there is this very great singularity, that nature seems to have substituted, very exactly, the circulation which takes place in some amphibious animals, for that which is natural to the human species. The infant had arrived at its full time, and lived seven days after its birth. Instead of the usual integuments, muscles, &c. a membranous bag appeared to protrude on the upper and fore part of the abdomen, extending from the last bone of the sternum some way below the middle of the belly, and out- wards, so as to be nearly circular: the navel-string seemed to enter this membrane near its middle, and to wind superficially, for some little way, towards the left side; it then dipped into the abdomen, at the place where this membrane joined the usual coverings. Within this bag, the appearance of which was very nearly similar to that of the chorion and amnios which envelop the foetus at birth, but thicker in consistence, a tumour was perceived, possessing considerable motion, from the nature of which, no doubt w..s entertained that it was the heart. During the short period of the child’s life, it was seen and examined by a number of professional men. Upon its death, the tumour was carefully opened by Mr. Morell, in the pre-