History and Progress of Comparative Anatomy. 297 



to prove the error of Gentilis, who justly admits th€ muscular 

 division also. In his account of the intestines, he states the 

 'length of the canal to be 13 Bologna ells : he i» the first who 

 mentions the vermiform process of the caecum ; he remarks the 

 yellow tint communicated to the jejunum by the gall-bladder; 

 and he recognises the opening of the common biliary duct into 

 the duodenum (quidam porus portans choleram). In the ac- 

 count of the stomach, he describes the several tissues of which 

 that organ is composed, and which, after Almansor, he repre- 

 sents to be three, and a fourth from the peritoneum ; and after- 

 wards notices the rugcB of its villous surface. He is at consi- 

 derable pains to explain the organs of generation, and recog- 

 nises the communication of the arteries and veins in the body of 

 the testicle. In his account of the anatomy of the foetus, which 

 is long and minute, he allows only one umbilical vein, and re- 

 presents the urachus as an impervious chord, evident proofs that 

 he had compared them with the fcetus of the lower animals. 

 He was the first who recognised the larger proportional size of 

 yke chest in the male than in tlie female, and conversely the 

 greater capacity of the female than of the male pelvis. In the 

 larynx he discovered the two arytenoid cartilages. He gives the 

 first good description of the thymus, distinguishes the oblique 

 situation of the heart, describes the pericardium, and maintains 

 the uniform presence of pericardial liquor. He then describes the 

 cavities of the heart ; but perplexes himself, as all the anato- 

 mists of that age, about the spirit supposed to be contained. 

 The aorta he properly makes to arise from the left ventricle ; 

 but confuses himself with the arteria 'venalis (pulmonary vein) 

 and the vena arterialis, tlie pulmonary artery ; and he further 

 demonstrates the existence and operation of the tricuspid valves 

 in the right ventricle, and of the sigmoid valves at the beginning of 

 tlie pulmonary artery and aorta, and allows only two ventricles se- 

 parated by a solid impervious septum. His account of the brain 

 is good. He gives a minute and clear description of the ventricles, 

 remarks the corpus striatum^ and has the sagacity to perceive 

 that the choroid plexus consists of veins and arteries ; he then 

 describes the middle and third ventricle, the infundibulum or 

 lacuna of Mondino, and the pituitary gland ; and lastly, the 

 passage to the fourth ventricle, the conarium or pineal gland, 



-JANUARY — MARCH 1831. U 



