SITUATION OF THE SPLEEN. 265 



left side, and, covering the upper surface of the spleen, is inter- 

 posed between it and the diaphragm ; which is sometimes, 

 though very rarely, the case. The inner or concave side of the 

 spleen, from its oblique situation, is turned a little downwards, 

 looking at the same time towards the spine, and to this part 

 a portion of the omentum is attached. The edges of the spleen 

 are not thin like those of the liver, but thick and round, giving 

 a spheroidal figure to the whole. 



SECT. 47. But the spleen is not uniformly of the figure above 

 described; sometimes we find it fissured into two or three lobes, 

 almost dividing it into so many distinct spleens, and frequently 

 we find the edge of it serrated. 



SECT. 48. It is generally a solitary viscus, yet two 1 distinct 

 spleens have been found in the same body, sometimes three, 

 and sometimes a cluster, as it were, of little spleens ; but these 

 are extraordinary deviations from the general conformation of 

 the body, and when found, may properly enough be considered 

 as so many freaks of nature. 



SECT. 49. The ordinary weight of the spleen is from six to 

 ten ounces ; in some subjects it has been found very large, ex- 

 ceeding the weight of five pounds; but as this preternatural 

 enlargement is ever found to be the effect of disease, so from 

 disease in other cases, or from some cause existing in the body, 

 it is found considerably diminished. One instance I have also 

 seen of a spleen not more than one ounce in weight, yet it had 

 the appearance of being perfectly sound (cxxx). 



1 Hall. Elem. Phy. torn, vi, p. 387. Est tamen unus tantum quamvis praeter 

 naturam duplex quoque nonnunquam observatus sit. Adriani Spigelius de Human! 

 Corporis Fabrica, cap. xiv, p. 3t)9. 



(cxxx.) Dr. Boyd finds that, in adults, the spleen is more variable 

 in size and weight than any of the human organs, excepting the womb 

 and ovaries. I am indebted to him for the following notes of his ob- 

 servations. The bodies died of various diseases. 



"In 346 males, aged from 20 to 60 inclusive, the average weight of 

 the spleen was 6 '78 ounces. The largest spleen was 35 '5 ounces, the 

 smallest */5 of an ounce. The spleen was largest between the ages of 

 30 and 50, when its average weight in 182 males was 7'23 ounces. 



"In 314 females, aged from 20 to 60 inclusive, the average weight 

 of the spleen \vas 5 '42 ounces. The largest spleen was 20 ounces, the 

 smallest vo of an ounce. The spleen was largest between the ages of 

 20 and 40, when its average weight in 123 females was 6*47 ounces." 



