THE ABDOMEN 



747 



hilum, with which it coincides. The inner portion of it rests 

 upon [a) the psoas magnus and its sheath, and [b) the crus of the 

 diaphragm. The outer portion rests, from above downwards, upon 

 {a) the twelfth rib (in the case of the left kidney the eleventh rib 

 also), [b) the diaphragm, and (c) the quadratus lumborum, covered 



Subcostal Artery 

 and Nerve 



Fig. 322.— Diagram showing the Relations of the Kidneys from Behind. 



R.L. Right Lung 

 L.L. Left Lung 



S. Spleen 



R.K. Right Kidney 



L.K. Left Kidney 



IX. Ninth Rib 



X. Tenth Rib 



XI. Eleventh Rib 



XII. Twelfth Rib 



I.L. First Lumbar Vertebra 



ILL. Second Lumbar Vertebra 

 I ILL. Third Lumbar Vertebra 



IV. L. Fourth Lumbar Vertebra 



V. L. Fifth Lumbar Vertebra 



by the anterior lamina of the lumbar aponeurosis. An important 

 surgical relation of the upper part of this division of the posterior 

 surface is that the pleura, in descending between the diaphragm 

 and the twelfth rib, lies behind the kidney. Three nerves pass down- 

 wards and outwards behind the organ, namelj^, the subcostal, 

 ilio-hypogastric, and inguinal. 



The superior extremity is capped by the suprarenal capsule, 

 which also extends for a little over the anterior surface and adjacent 

 portion of the internal border. 



The external border, which is convex, rests on the pos- 

 terior aponeurosis of the transversalis abdominis. The external 

 border of the right kidney, over about its upper two- thirds, is in 

 contact with the liver, whilst the external border of the left kidney 

 at its upper end is in contact with the spleen. 



The internal border of the right kidney lies very near the 



