TOPOGRAPHY OF THE THORAX AND ABDOMEN 25 



of the base of the lung which is formed almost entirely 

 by the inferior lobe of the lung. Since the inferior mar- 

 gin of the lung is below the level of the liver the peripheral 

 portion of the base comes into relation with the fundus of 

 the stomach from near the midclavicular line around to 

 the vertebral column (Plates XIII, XXVIII and XXXII). 

 The upper part of the spleen is interposed between the 

 posterior part of the base of the lung and the posterior sur- 

 face of the stomach below the level of the tenth vertebra. If 

 the base of the lung were viewed from below, its gastric 

 area would be roughly hourglass-shaped, being encroached 

 upon by the liver from the front and right side and by 

 the upper pole of the spleen from behind and the left. 

 Plates XXVIII and XXXII show the superior lobe of the 

 lung (in projection) in relation with the spleen but a ref- 

 erence to Plate XIII will show that this part of the lung 

 is in reality separated from the spleen by a space 10 cm. 

 in width containing the fundus of the stomach. 



The limgs as found in this subject do not reach as low 

 a level, especially upon the anterior thoracic wall, as is 

 usually given in works on topographic anatomy. This 

 difference is probably due to the lungs being in a condi- 

 tion of extreme expiration in this instance while the usual 

 statements apply to a condition which is a mean between 

 expiration and inspiration. 



THE TRACHEA 



The trachea begins opposite the lower part of the sixth 

 cervical vertebra and bifurcates in front of the disc between 

 the fourth and fifth thoracic vertebrae. Plates XXVIII, 

 XXIX, XXXII and XXXIII show the first part of the 

 trachea to the left of the midline, while Plate III shows it 



