38 ANATOMY. 



across, or lengthways, to show the outer, dense, or compact layer, and the in- 

 ner, open, or cancellated structure, of which the bones are composed, and also 

 the soft, vascular, and fatty tissue, called the marrow, found in the cells of the 

 latter. The upper limbs, with their muscles, which need not be specially dis- 

 sected, may next be partially detached from the sides of the trunk, and re- 

 flected outwards. 



It will now be observed, both by the aid of sight and touch, that whilst the 

 forepart of the trunk is ribbed at the sides and front, the hinder part has soft 

 walls. The ribbed part is the thorax, the soft part the abdomen. These two 

 cavities should then be opened, much after the manner represented in regard 

 to the human body in Fig. 13. To open the thorax, the ribs and their attached 

 muscles should be first cut through down each side of the chest ; then the low- 

 est cut rib, say on the left side, should be traced forward, detached from the 

 soft parts below it, and once more cut across upwards, near its anterior end ; 

 then the next ribs in succession upwards, with the intervening muscles, must 

 be cut in the same way, until the lower end of the sternum is reached, when 

 that too is to be cut across : the same is to be done on the right side. The 

 bony and muscular flap thus formed, consisting of the sternum or breastbone, 

 and of the attached portions of ribs, is next to be pulled upwards, and forcibly 

 detached, or cut away from the parts beneath it, being raised up as high as 

 the neck, and then removed entirely ; at this step, the windpipe and great 

 vessels should be felt or looked for, and certain muscles which cover them may 

 be lifted upwards as high as they ascend in the neck and cut away. To open 

 the abdomen, an incision may be first made through its membranous and mus- 

 cular walls along the middle line ; two semilunar cuts, sweeping round, one 

 on each side, and following, first the lower borders of the ribs, then the sides 

 of the abdomen, and then the upper margin of the pelvis, will circumscribe the 

 entire soft front of the abdominal walls, which may then be lifted up, and de- 

 tached by severing the remains of a sort of band, or peritonceal fold, which is 

 one of the supports or ligaments of the liver. The diaphragm will be seen sepa- 

 rating the chest from the abdomen. 



In the cavity of the abdomen, after noticing the general smoothness of its 

 lining membrane, or peritonceum, there will first be observed the great omentum, 

 an apron-like peritonseal fold containing little masses of fat : this may be lifted 

 upwards and cut close along its upper margin : the small intestine will thus be 

 exposed. The convolutions or windings of this may next be traced downwards 

 to its lower end, which will be found above the right groin, where, being first 

 tied in two places about an inch apart, it may be cut across between the 

 strings. The small intestine itself is now to be removed by cutting, from 

 below upwards, through the peritonseal fold, called the mesentery, which holds 

 it to the back of the abdomen, and in which the bloodvessels, absorbents or 

 lacteals, and nerves of the intestine are supported ; on reaching the more fixed 

 upper part of the small intestine, it is again to be tied in two places and cut 

 through ; by which step, the detached part, consisting of the jejunum and 

 ileum, may be entirely removed. The large intestine may now be traced, as- 

 cending along the right side, passing next across, descending along the left 

 side, and then entering the pelvis. Its commencement is named the coecum, 

 and from this it will be found there proceeds an enormous blind-ended, spirally- 

 marked tube or ul-de-sac, which is a highly developed ccecal appendage, and 

 is represented by the little vermiform appendix only, in the human body ; to 

 this succeeds the ascending, transverse, and descending colon, the sigmoid flexure 

 of the colon, and lastly, the rectum. The rectum being twice tied and cut 

 across, the whole of the large intestine is to be removed. The solid reddish 

 organ, the liver, with its bright-green gall-bladder, may now be examined ; also 

 the mode in which it fits up against the vault of the diaphragm, the way in 

 which it is suspended to that structure, and the fact that it overlaps the stom- 

 ach ; it must be noted that it is much more deeply notched or divided than 

 the human liver : it is to be drawn downwards and cut away by dividing the 

 soft parts close to its surface all round. The stomach, known by its dilated 

 form, but unlike the human stomach, marked off by a constriction into two 

 parts, mav now be examined ; its connection above with the gullet may be de- 

 termined by pulling upon it, or by pouring water, or passing a quill down the 



