118 CAPSULJE RENALES. 



which is somewhat triangular, and from the lower part of it a 

 small thin ridge arises.* 



A small quantity of fluid is generally found in it, which has a 

 very dark color in adults, is yellowish in young subjects, and red 

 in infants. 



These bodies have not a single artery appropriated to them, 

 as the spleen has, but receive small branches from several 

 contiguous sources; namely, from the arteries of the diaphragm, 

 from the coeliac artery or the aorta, and from the arteries of the 

 kidneys. There is generally one principal vein, as well as some 

 that are smaller, belonging to each of these bodies : the large 

 vein, on the right side, generally opens into the vena cava ; and, 

 on the left, into the left emulgent vein. 



These bodies were first described by Eustachius, and have 

 been regarded with attention by many anatomists since that 

 period. They exist in a great number of animals ; but their 

 nature and functions are altogether unknown. 



Rayer,f adopts the opinion of Meckel, that in the normal 

 state there is no cavity whatever in the renal capsules. When- 

 ever I have observed this cavity in my dissections, it has been 

 always filled with dark blood or a yellowish albuminous fluid, 

 and the walls of the cavity have presented an irregular appear- 

 ance, though having the general triangular form of the gland. 

 In the healthy state, the supra renal vein can be traced into the 

 centre of the gland which then presents a spongy appearance. 

 The vein itself is dilated so as to form a sort of sinus in the 

 interior of the gland. 



Rayer considers the cavity as always produced by haemorr- 

 hage arising, from a rupture of some of the lax vessels of the 

 capsule, which causes a forcible separation of the soft tissue of 

 the gland. He describes several cases of what he calls apoplexy 

 of the gland, where a large amount of blood was collected 

 in a cyst formed from the gland. Miiller believes that the deve- 

 lopment of these glands is in some measure connected with 

 that of the generative organs. 



* The cavity in these bodies has sometimes been sought for in vain. Haller 

 found it in sixteen cases out of nineteen. 

 I Sur les Maladies des Reins. p. 



