URETERS SUPRARENAL CAPSULES. 793 



The lymphatics of the kidney consist of a superficial and deep set ; they 

 accompany the bloodvessels, and terminate in the lumbar glands. 



The nerves are derived from the renal plexus, which is formed by filaments 

 from the solar plexus and lesser splanchnic nerve ; they accompany the branches 

 of the arteries. From the renal plexus, some filaments pass to the spermatic 

 plexus and ureter. 



THE URETERS. 



The Ureter is the excretory duct of the kidney. It is a cylindrical membra- 

 nous tube, from sixteen to eighteen inches in length, and of the diameter of a 

 goose-quill. It is placed at the back part of the abdomen, behind the perito- 

 neum: and extends obliquely downwards and inwards, from the lower part of 

 the pelvis of the kidney, enters the cavity of the pelvis, and then passes down- 

 wards, forwards, and inwards, to the base of the bladder, into which it opens by 

 a constricted orifice, after passing obliquely, for nearly an inch, between its 

 muscular and mucous coats. 



Relations. In its course from above downwards, it rests upon the Psoas 

 muscle, being covered by the peritoneum, and crossed in front very obliquely 

 by the spermatic vessels ; the right ureter lying close to the outer side of the 

 inferior vena cava. Opposite the sacrum, it crosses the common or the external 

 iliac artery, lying behind the ileum on the right side, and the sigmoid flexure 

 of the colon on the left. In the pelvis, it enters the posterior false ligament of 

 the bladder, below the obliterated hypogastric artery ; the vas deferens, in the 

 male, passing between it and the bladder. In the female, the ureter passes along 

 the sides of the cervix uteri and upper part of the vagina. At the base of the 

 bladder, it is situated about two inches from its fellow; lying, in the male, 

 about an inch and a half behind the base of the prostate, at the posterior angle 

 of the trigone. 



Structure. The ureter is composed of three coats: fibrous, muscular, and 

 mucous. 



The fibrous coat is continuous with that surrounding the pelvis of the kidney. 



The muscular coat consists of two layers of longitudinal fibres, and an inter- 

 mediate transverse layer. , 



The mucous coat is smooth, and presents a few longitudinal folds, which be- 

 come effaced by distension. It is continuous with the mucous membrane of 

 the bladder below ; whilst, above, it is prolonged over the papilla into the 

 tubuli uriniferi. The epithelial cells lining it are spheroidal. 



The arteries supplying the ureter are branches of the renal, spermatic, internal 

 iliac, and inferior vesical. 



The nerves are derived from the inferior mesenteric, .spermatic, and hypogas- 

 tric plexuses. 



SUPRARENAL CAPSULES. 



The Suprarenal Capsules are usually classified, together with the spleen, thy- 

 mus, and thyroid, under the head of "ductless glands," as they have no excretory 

 duct. They are two small flattened glandular bodies, of a yellowish color, situ- 

 ated at the back part of the abdomen, behind the peritoneum, and immediately 

 in front of the upper end of either kidney ; hence their name. The right one 

 is somewhat triangular m shape, bearing a resemblance to a cocked hat ; the 

 left is more semilunar, and usually larger and higher than the right. They 

 vary in size in different individuals, being sometimes so small as to be scarcely 

 detected ; their usual size is from an inch arid a quarter to nearly two inches in 

 length, rather less in width, and from two to three lines in thickness. In weight 

 they vary from one to two drachms. 



Relations. The anterior surface is in relation, on the right side, with the under 

 surface of the liver ; and on the left, with the pancreas and spleen. The poste- 



