234 



ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGY 



possible also that many a man would have been able to 

 bear up through the struggles of life and finally to suc- 

 ceed, instead of succumbing to stimulants and dissipation, 

 if he had not been burdened with a hysterical invalid for 

 a wife, instead of a brave, cheerful, and healthy woman. 

 The drooping lily style of woman has 

 become very distasteful to men; the 

 drinking, dissipating man is becoming 

 equally repulsive to women. Health 

 is an indispensable foundation for 

 happiness. 



THE KIDNEYS 



414. The kidneys lie one on each 

 side of the vertebral column, against 

 the rear wall of the abdomen, on a 

 level with the lower ribs. They are 

 purplish red organs, about four inches 

 long and two inches broad, and some- 

 what bean-shaped. A man's kidney 

 (Fig. 185) is very much like a pig's 



FIG. 185. Kidneys and kidney, which you may have seen. 



Bladder. J . . J 



415. A large artery, the renal ar- 



K, kidneys; Ur, ureters; . . . . , 



/?/, bladder: i, openings of tery, leads from the aorta to each 

 tt kidney, and a large vein, the renal 



aom; v.c.i., inferior vena vem leads from each kidney to the 



cava (see Plate V). 



inferior vena cava. There also passes 

 out from each kidney a white tube called a ureter. The 

 two ureters run down the back and open into the bladder 

 (Plate V). 



416. Function. Urea is the most important substance 

 excreted by the kidneys. It is brought by the blood to the 

 kidneys, and you learned that it is probably formed in the 

 liver. It is a nitrogenous substance, and is more abundant 

 if a large amount of proteid food is eaten. 



