14 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES 



Poirier and Charpyi, ^^^ Mehnert-. According ta 

 Mehnert, who has made a careful study of the topography 

 of the thoracic organs, the upper border of the sternum in 

 adults usually corresponds to the second thoracic vertebra 

 or to the disc below. Occasionally it reaches the third as in 

 this case. It is probable that the bending forward of the 

 upper thoracic portion of the vertebral column has forced 

 the manubrium down to the level of the third vertebra. 



There seem to be several differences between the pro- 

 jections given by Hermann and Ruedel^ and those given 

 in this paper. But no definite conclusions can be drawn 

 from their projections since they have not projected the 

 skeleton and viscera in the same figure. There are no de- 

 scriptions of the projections nor any explanation as to how 

 they, were made. Moreover the projections themselves do 

 not appear to be very accurate. I made careful tracings of 

 their projection of the skeleton upon the anterior surface of 

 the body and placed it over the corresponding projections 

 of the viscera. I found that the parts common to the pro- 

 jection of the skeleton and that of the organs (i. e., the 

 cross-lines indicating the position of the surfaces of the sec- 

 tions, the body outline, the clavicles, the sternum and the 

 subcostal angle, which are found in both projections) do 

 not coincide as they should. Their table of levels may 

 therefore be taken as of more value than their projections, 

 and will be referred to as the various organs are discussed. 



iPoirier, P. et Charpy, A., Traits d'anatomie humaine. I. Paris, 

 1899. 



'Mehnert, E., Ueber topographische altersveranderungen des 

 atmungsapparates. Jena, 1901. 



'Hermann, F. und Ruedel, O., Die lage dereingeweide. Erlangen, 



