So Mr. Abernethy's Account of two Instances of 
I shall first relate those varieties of the sanguiferous system 
which were found on the thoracic side of the diaphragm, and 
afterwards describe those which were discovered in the abdo- 
men ; this will naturally lead me to the account of the un- 
common state of the liver. The situation of the heart was re- 
versed ; the basis of that organ was placed a little to the left 
of the sternum, whilst its apex extended considerably to the 
right, and pointed against the space between the sixth and 
seventh ribs. The cavities usually called the right auricle 
and ventricle were consequently inclined to the left side of 
the body ; therefore, to avoid confusion in the description, I 
shall, after Mr. Winslow, term them anterior, whilst those 
cavities usually called left, I shall term posterior. The in- 
ferior vena cava past, as usual, through a tendinous ring in 
the right side of the centre of the diaphragm, it afterwards 
pursued the course of the vena azygos, the place of which it 
supplied ; after having united with the superior cava, the 
conjoined veins passed beneath the basis of the heart, to ex- 
pand into the anterior auricle. The veins returning the 
blood from the liver united into one trunk, which passed 
through a tendinous aperture in the left of the centre of the 
diaphragm, and terminated immediately also in the anterior 
auricle. 
The distribution of blood to the lungs, and the return 
of it from those bodies, were accomplished after the usual 
manner. 
The aorta, after it had emerged from the posterior ven- 
tricle of the heart, extended its arch from the left to the right 
side, but afterwards pursued its ordinary course along the bo- 
dies of the dorsal vertebrae. 
