30 SUPERFICIAL ANATOMY OF THE TRUNK. 



is placed beneath the ninth, tenth and eleventh ribs of the left side, being separated 

 from them by the diaphragm, and at its upper part also by the lung. It lies very 

 obliquely, its long axis coinciding almost exactly with the line of the tenth rib. Its 

 highest and lowest points are on a level respectively with the ninth dorsal and first 



Fig. 14. OUTLINE VIEW OP THE KIDNEYS FROM BEHIND, CONSTRUCTED FROM A SERIES OF HORIZONTAL 



SECTIONS THROUGH THE TRUNK OF AN ADULT MALE. (J. Symington.) 



R.K., L.K., right and left kidneys ; E.S., outer border of erector spinae muscle ; Q.L.. outer border 

 of quadratus lumborum muscle ; i.e. , iliac crest ; p. p. , dotted line to show lower limit of costal pleura. 

 In this case the two kidneys were nearly symmetrical in position. 



lumbar spines ; its inner end is distant about an inch and a half (4 cm.) from the 

 median plane of the body, and its outer end about reaches the mid-axillary line. 



Kidneys. The upper end of the right kidney reaches to the level of the 

 eleventh dorsal spine ; the lower end is on an average one inch (2 - 5 cm.) above 

 the iliac crest, and a little below the level of the second lumbar spine ; the hilum 

 is opposite the first lumbar spine. The last rib, when well developed, is sloped 

 downwards and outwards at an angle of about 45 with the vertical, and crosses the 

 posterior surface of the kidney in such a way that about one-third of the organ is 

 under cover of the thoracic wall. The left kidney is, as a rule, about half an inch 

 (1 2 cm.) higher than the right. In the female and child the kidneys are some- 

 what lower than in the adult male, and not unfrequently reach down as far as the 

 iliac crest (cf. p. 26). 



