504 



TSE GIRCULATOBY AFPABATUS. 



Fig. 260. 



summit, into which are implanted the tendinous cords {chordce tendincB) 

 proceeding from the auriculo-ventricular valve ;^ those of the second order 

 are free in their middle part, and attached by th*r extremities to the walls 

 of the heart ; while the third description adhere throughout their length to 

 the cardiac tissue, on which they stand as if sculptured in relief. 



In the right ventricle, two columns of the first order, rarely three, are 



met with : one on the anterior wall, 

 the other on the posterior. The 

 columns of the second order num- 

 ber two or three principal ones, ex- 

 tending from one wall to the other, 

 or attached to two different points 

 of the same wall. There also ex- 

 ist a considerable number of small 

 ones intermixed with those of the 

 third order. The latter are par- 

 ticularly abundant in the angles 

 formed by the union of the two 

 faces, where they interlace and give 

 rise to more or less complicated 

 areolfe. 



Apex. — The apex of the right 

 ventricle does not descend to the 

 point of the heart, being distant 

 from it about 1^ inches. 



Base. — This is pierced by two 

 large orifices — the auriculo-ven- 

 tricular opening and the pulmonary 

 opening. 



Auriculo-ventricular opening. — • 

 Placed on a level with the con- 

 striction which divides the right 

 heart into two superposed compart- 

 ments, this orifice, widely open and 

 almost a regular circle, forms the 

 communication between the auricle 

 and ventricle. It is provided with 

 a valvular fold that exactly closes 

 the orifice when the ventricle con- 

 tracts to propel the blood into the 

 lungs, and which is termed the 

 tricuspid (having three points) valve, 

 in consequence of its form. This valve oifers : 1, A superior border, attached 

 to the entire margin of the auriculo-ventricular opening; 2, An inferior 

 opening, free, cut into three festoons by three deep notches, and fixed to 

 the ventricular walls, principally on the summits of the fleshy columns, by 

 means of tendinous cords which ramify on reaching the valve. One of these 

 festoons, more developed than the others, is placed on the limit of the 

 auriculo-ventricular and pulmonary openings ; thereby constituting a kind of 

 vertical partition which divides the ventricular cavity at its base into two 

 compartments : a right cr auricular, and a left or arterial. The other 

 festoons are applied to the anterior and posterior waUs of the ventricle; 

 3, An external face, which receives the insertion of a great number of 



EIGHT SIDE OF THE HEART LAID OPEN. 



1, Cavity of right auricle ; 2, Appendix auri- 

 culas, with musculi pectinati ; 3, Anterior 

 vena cava opening into the upper part of 

 the I'ight auricle ; 4, Posterior vena cava ; 

 5, Fossa ovalis, surrounded by the annulus 

 ovalis ; 6, Eustachian valve ; 7, Opening 

 of the coronary sinus ; 8, Coronary valve ; 

 9, Entrance of auricular-ventricular open- 

 ing. — a, Right .ventricle ; &, Its cavity ; c, 

 Conus arteriosus, or infundibulum ; c?, Pul- 

 monary artery ; e, f, Tj'icuspid valve ; g, 

 One of the musculi papillares to which 

 the curtains of the tricuspid valve are 

 attached by chorda; tendinse ; A, Columuas 

 carneaa ; z, Two musculi papillares of val- 

 vular curtain ; /, ?, Chordce tendjnea; ; m, 

 Semilunar valves of pulmonary artery ; 

 tt, Apex of left appendix auricula; ; i>. Left 

 ventricle. 



