180 



ANATOMY FOB, NURSES. [CHAP. XVI. 



Position and General Description of the Urinary Organs. 



The kidneys. The kidneys are two compound tubular secret- 

 ing glands placed at the back of the abdominal cavity, one on 

 each side of the lumbar vertebrae. They are bean-shaped, with 

 the concave side turned towards the spine, and the convex side 

 directed outwards. Each kidney is about four inches long, two 

 broad, and one thick, and extends from the eleventh rib to nearly 



the crest of the ilium, the 

 right being a little lower 

 than the left in conse- 

 quence of the large space 

 occupied by the liver. 

 They are covered by a 

 tough envelope of fibrous 

 tissue called the capsule 

 of the kidney, and are 

 usually embedded in a con- 

 siderable quantity of fat. 



The ureters. The ure- 

 ters are the excretory ducts 

 of the kidneys. They arise 

 in the middle of the con- 

 cave side, or hilus, of each 

 kidney and proceed ob- 

 liquely downwards and in- 

 wards through the lumbar 

 region of the abdomen into 

 the pelvis, to open ob- 

 FIG. 105. THE RENAL ORGANS VIEWED ij mip i v KV two constricted 

 FROM BEHIND. R, right kidney; A t aorta; 



Ar, right renal artery ; Vc, inferior vena cava ; orifices into the base of the 

 Vr, right renal vein ; U, right ureter ; Vu, -, i i -, TT> -u ; , ~f 



bladder; Ua, urethra. bladder. Each ureter is ot 



the diameter of a goose. 



quill, from sixteen to eighteen inches long, and consists of 

 muscular tissue lined by mucous membrane. The muscular coat 

 is arranged in two layers, an outer circular and an inner longi- 

 tudinal. Outside the muscular coat is a layer of fibrous con- 

 nective tissue carrying the blood-vessels and nerves with which 

 the tube is supplied. 



The bladder. The bladder is the reservoir of the urine. It 



