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Σ In the right leg is marked the first mus-cle [m. sartorius] that causes motion of

. the lower leg. Its origin is labeled , the t. beginning of its tendon t, its insertion u, 2. u. The number 2 marks the insertion of

the second muscle [m. gracilis] moving 3. the lower leg, and 3 the insertion of the

third [musculus semitendinosus].Φ Sixth of the muscles [m. tensor fasciae

latae] moving the lower leg; its beginningx, y. is marked x, and y is the place where it

ceases to be fleshy and is laid over the entire width of the thigh like a mem-brane. It was impossible to represent its tendon or membrane except as seen here on either thigh where we have cut away its thinnest part, which is laid over the inner area of the thigh as if it were a torn membrane, so that the section would to some extent reveal the nature of the membrane. Whatever lies outside of that uneven line or section is still the membrane or tendon of the sixth mus-cle.

α Ninth22 [musculus rectus femoris] of the muscles moving the lower leg.

β Eighth [musculus vastus medialis] of the movers of the lower leg, less covered by the sixth muscle moving the lower leg in the left leg than in the right. I have not placed a character on the seventh mover of the lower leg [musculus vas-tus lateralis]23 because all of it is still covered by the sixth. But Φ can identify it as well, as the membrane of the sixth muscle does not attain sufficient thick-ness to conceal the form of the muscles beneath.

γ In the region of the groin [regio ingui-nalis], muscles are marked which we shall count the sixth [musculus psoas major] and seventh [musculus iliacus] of the muscles that move the thigh. γ also identifies the glandules of the groin [nodi lymphatici inguinales superficia-les] together with the recess from which I have resected the vessels [arteria femo-ralis, vena femoralis] going to the leg.

22 Sic in both editions; elsewhere in the Fabrica, the musculus vastus lateralis is the 7th muscle. Likewise, the m. rectus femoris (β below) is elsewhere the 9th muscle moving the tibia. The identifications of α and β became reversed, and the error was not corrected in the 1555 edition. See Ch. 53 below on the 7th muscle moving the lower leg.

23 But see the preceding note. The 1555 edition substitutes the follow-ing after this point: “… for although it is seen to protrude somewhat beneath the tendon or membrane of the sixth muscle moving the lower leg just as it does in muscu-lar men beneath the skin, no por-tion of it is detected in this figure.”

T H I R D T A B L E O F M U S C L E S

δ Eighth [musculus pectineus] of the mus-cles moving the thigh.

ε Second [musculus gracilis] of the mus-cles that create motion of the lower leg; number 2 [on the other leg] shows its tendon.

ζ, η Unfleshed part of the tibia [margo ante-rior]; η separately marks the inner mal-leolus [malleolus medialis].

Ψ Sixth [musculus tibialis anterior] of the θ. muscles moving the foot; θ identifies its κ. origin and κ the beginning of its ten-

don, whose course is manifest without need for characters to be placed on it, though ξ more or less shows the place of its insertion.

λ Seventh [musculus fibularis longus] of the muscles moving the foot.

μ Tendon of the muscle [m. extensor hal-lucis longus, tendo] extending the big toe.

ν Muscle [m. extensor digitorum longus] extending the four toes.

ξ Muscle [m. abductor hallucis] abducting the big toe to the inside away from the other toes.

ο Transverse ligament [retinaculum mus-culorum extensorum superius] placed on the anterior surface of the lower leg, bent back to the sides when the dissec-tion was made.

ϖ Bifurcated tendon of the ninth muscle [m. fibularis tertius] moving the foot.

ρ First [musculus gastrocnemius, caput mediale] of the muscles moving the foot.

ς Fourth [musculus soleus] of the muscles moving the foot.

τ Extremely long and slender tendon put forth by the third muscle [m. plantaris] that moves the foot.

υ Muscle [m. flexor digitorum longus] flexing the third bone of the four toes.

ϕ Fifth [musculus tibialis posterior] of the muscles moving the foot.

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What Will be expl ained in the third book

SSEOUS and muscular anatomy were explained in the preceding books; the next task will be to set forth the dis-tribution of veins and arteries through the whole body, since Galen rightly advised in the first book of On Ana-

tomical Procedures that this order of procedure should be followed in learning anatomy.1 another person will per-haps not wrongly hold that a description of the parts (the figures in bks. 5–7 show these) contained in the peritoneum [pleura], the membrane surrounding the ribs, and the skull should necessarily precede not only the veins and arteries but also the nerves, on the grounds that without knowl-edge of these parts the whole description of veins, arteries, and nerves becomes so difficult that i would not be averse if this book and the fourth, devoted to the nerves, were placed after the fifth, sixth, and seventh, and that they pre-cede the present book. this would be the case especially if someone quite untrained came to these books first without so much as reading our Epitome or occasional self-training. lest i depart further at this point from the view of Galen and other professors of anatomy who preceded him, i shall dedicate this book to the veins and arteries, taking the beginning of my account from the veins because there are more of them and they are to a great extent laid over the arteries. i leave it to the reader freely to alter the order in which my books are read.

What is a vein

a vein (see the figures in Chs. 5 and 6) is an instrumentary part,2 round and hollow like a tube, carrying blood for nourishment throughout the body, together with a visibly murky (as much as any can be) natural spirit.3

hoW the body of a vein differ s from a membr a ne

it consists of a single tunic [t. externa] peculiar to it which resembles the membranes in color, thickness, and form but in other ways differs completely from their nature. a mem-brane is judged to be a simple, uniform body:4 however torn apart in any place, it always keeps the name of “mem-brane.” a vein’s tunic, however, is an instrumentary body, composed of similar parts or fibers. in the same way as the membranous tendons of muscles are, as a rule, woven from a single kind of fiber and for this reason are placed in the category not of similar but of instrumentary parts, the vein’s tunic is made up of three types of fiber.5

WhiCh of the fiber s are responsible for natur al motion, a nd hoW they differ from those that serve voluntary motion

such fibers6 are called ἶνος7 by the Greeks, and they resem-ble muscle fibers [textus muscularis striatus] in substance, form, and color but vary considerably from them in their

1 “Bones must be learned … before dissecting the muscles, for these two form the groundwork of the other parts, the foundations, as it were, of a building. And next, study arteries, veins, and nerves. … Such should be the order of your training.” (De anatomicis administrationibus 2.226.3–15; tr. Singer, 1956, p. 5).

2 Pars instrumentaria, later corpus instrumentarium. “Instrumentary” remained in the English vocabu-lary until at least the 17th century: “… the veins and arteries are instru-

mentary parts” (Alexander Read, A Treatise of the First Part of Chirurgerie, 1638, lecture 2, p. 9; cited in OED 2). Cf. Galen’s ὀργανικός, “serving as organs or instruments” (Durling, 1993, p. 255). “I call any part of an animal’s body which performs a complete action an organ, such as the eye of sight, the tongue of speech, or the legs of walking. Sim-ilarly arteries, veins, and nerves are both parts and organs of ani-mals.” (De methodo medendi 10.47.8–11; tr. Hankinson, 1991,

pp. 24f.). In Bk. 4 of De usu partium, Galen describes an ὄργανον as “a composite part of the body to which some one action has been intrusted” (tr. May, 1968, p. 221).

3 Here, as in most of his physiology, Vesalius follows Galen, whose πνεῦμα φυσῶδες (Vesalius’ spiri-tus naturalis) is the instrument of the vegetative soul, responsible for nutrition, blood formation, and general metabolism. It resides in the liver. See May, 1968, p. 48; Rothschuh, 1973, p. 17.

4 Simplex ac similare corpus, as Galen described the peritoneal mem-brane in De anatomicis administra-tionibus 2.511.8–9: ἁπλοῦν, συνεχὲς ἑαυτῷ πᾶν, ὁμοιομερὲς ἀκριβῶς “simple, wholly continu-ous with itself, precisely homoeo-merous.” The technical term, defined in Durling, 1993, p. 251 as “having parts like each other and the whole,” was traced by Aristotle to Anaxagoras (c. 500–428 BC), who was thought to have used it of elements (including hair and bone) that he judged not blended

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action. the latter, having8 the fleshy substance of muscles, are responsible for voluntary motion, while the former, not being laced with flesh, are responsible for natural motion. as we perform motions that depend upon our volition with the aid of fibers in the muscles, so natural motions that serve the whole body are performed by means of cer-tain fibers which are woven into the organs that serve the entire body. but not all natural motions are performed by such fibers: only the attraction, retention, and expulsion of some material. i assign to the attractive, retentive, and expulsive force of these vessels not that which is engen-dered by nature to the individual parts for their nutrition, but the force by which certain parts of the body perform a common task for the entire body. the attraction of food through the esophagus into the stomach, of blood from the vena cava into the right cavity of the heart, of air from the venous artery [vena pulmonalis] into the left cavity of the heart, of semen into the uterus, of blood into the veins, and of spirit into the arteries is altogether different from the attraction by which those parts draw in the nutriment peculiar to them and by which they are severally nour-ished. again, the excretive faculty by which the stomach propels the food prepared by it into the intestines, and by which in turn the upper intestines [i. tenue] push it into the lower [intestinum crassum], and by which the heart sends blood to the lungs and vital spirit together with blood with an impulse sweeping through the body into the great artery [aorta], and by which one part of a vein continually chan-nels blood into the successive part, and by which the uterus expels a fetus and the bladder urine is far different from the faculty by which the parts just mentioned expel from themselves the residues of their own nourishment. in addi-tion, the retention of food and drink in the stomach, of the fetus in the womb, of urine in the bladder, of blood in the veins, and of spirit in the heart is thought quite differ-ent from that by which the heart, stomach, bladder, and uterus keep for themselves and retain their familiar nutri-ment. the motions intrinsic to all parts – and which serve

no others – occur through energy situated only in those parts, completely without the aid of fibers. but parts that necessarily produce an attraction, retention, or expulsion that manages or accommodates other parts, or even the whole body, have certain fibers for that function by whose aid they complete it.

t ypes a nd funCtion of fiber s

as there are three types of motion, three types of fibers were constructed by nature: vertical, oblique, and trans-verse. the vertical fibers are suited to attraction, the oblique to retention, the transverse to expulsion. the vertical fibers

of other substances. Aristotle dis-tinguished between uniform or homoiomerous parts of the body, “of which the part is identical in name and nature with the whole” (De generatione et corruptione 314a20), and organic or instrumen-tal parts in De partibus animalium 640b17ff., 646a20–24, 647a1–24, 647b10ff., etc. Bodily organs, such as the lungs, liver, brain, heart, and vessels, are nonhomoiomerous: a heart, when taken apart, does not subdivide into little hearts, etc. Animal tissues, blood, humor, and

bone are homoiomerous, simple compounds of the four elements. See Guthrie, 1969, vol. II, pp. 283, 325, 326; Singer, 1956, p. 243, n.53; von Staden, 1989, p. 399; Hankin-son, 1991, pp. 139f., 195f. In Ch. 2, Bk. V, Vesalius describes the peri-toneum as one of the homoiomer-ous or similaria parts of the body.

5 “Here Vesalius retained the Galenic doctrine that in certain organs of the body there were three kinds of fibers, straight to attract, trans-verse to propel, and oblique to retain. … It was not until almost

twenty years later, answering Fal-lopio’s criticisms of the Fabrica [Observationes, fols. 114rff.], that he finally admitted that the fibers had been the product of his imagi-nation.” (O’Malley, 1964, p. 166). For Galen’s doctrine, see De natu-ralis facultatibus 2.180.15ff. For Ves-alius’ abandonment of this vulga-rem medicorum sententiam, see his Examen, p. 80, and Saunders and O’Malley, 1947, p. 59, n. 143.

6 Probably longitudinal fibrae colla-genosae observed by Vesalius in the tunica externa of a piece of vein

cut and flattened on a hard sur-face. See preceding note. For Galen and Vesalius, the distinction between “voluntary” and “natural” motion was important as, by defi-nition, a muscle could perform only voluntary motions.

7 Corrected to ἶνες in the 1555 edi-tion; the nom. sing. is ἴς, gen. sing. ἰνός, nom. pl. ἶνες, meaning “sin-ews” or “tendons,” later “the fibrous vessels in the muscles.”

8 1555: “for the most part.”

Rough drawing of fibers, in which a marks transverse, b and c the two kinds of oblique, and d the vertical. e illustrates, after a fashion, the interweaving of the three types of fiber, which the likeness of a vein that follows immediately will show more accurately.

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A p p e nd i X

revised version of vesalius’ chapter on the lymph gl ands[1555 ed., pp. 441–443]

i did not think a figure needed to be placed at the head of this chapter because a great number of the sketches of books five, six, and seven would need to be placed here together in addition to several tables of muscles. when mention is made of a glandule, you will conveniently be referred to them from the text of the chapter.

Why a nd When gl a ndules are pl aced on vein br a nches

nowise differently than nature often placed an additional membrane [fascia] around a vein and artery in addition to their own tunics, so as to attach them conveniently to adja-cent parts and assure their safe passage, did she – since she was not unaware that each vessel was more exposed to damage at the point where it divided into branches – to assure safe division without such membranes, construct a moderately soft and somewhat yielding substance [nodus lymphoideus] with which, as with knots on trees, she everywhere filled the places where the vessels split, and spread it under and around the divisions of the branches so that none of them could easily be split or rendered unser-viceable. but because the forks in the vessels are particu-larly exposed to injuries due to violent movement, and because vessels rest more easily over a soft and slightly yielding substance, and with its aid are kept unbroken and whole even if moved quite vigorously, nature interposed such a substance (which the greeks commonly called ἀδήν

and ὄγκος, the latins glans, glandula, glandium, and some-times caro, “flesh”) at each place where vessels divide, leav-ing nothing up to chance. For she provided very little or virtually none of this substance to divisions that are not suspended, nor to joints that have a varied and quite loose motion, for it was clear to her that such divisions of vessels would suffer nothing from violent motion. but when forked vessels suspended by some membrane, or over joints that are moved into acute angles, are extended further – and several of them are situated in such places – nature has surrounded those divisions of vessels in no small quantity with the substance of which we are speaking, as can be seen throughout the distribution of the portal vein (see this [pancreas] in fig. 3, bk. v, at η η, etc. in fig. 4, then at L L, M M in fig. 10), because it is supported only by mem-branes and runs forth to the stomach, spleen, and intes-tines. in the same way, you will learn from dissection that this substance, which is responsible for the strength of dis-tribution, is generated in the membranes [pleura] (around H, N, M, O in fig. 1, bk. vi, and F [thymus], G, I I [medi-astinum] in fig. 2) that divide up the cavity of the thorax, in the brain (H in fig. 6, bk. vii, V in fig. 7) [vena magna cerebri] over the cerebral testes [lamina tecti] (M, N in fig. 7, bk. vii), and (because the vessels are carried suspended in the membranes there) in the anterior ventricles of the brain [ventriculi laterales] (O O in fig. 4, bk. vii,13 and F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N in fig. 6). you will hear that another [placenta and/or chorion?] (E E E in table  1, fig.  30, bk. v, I I I in table 2; A A in fig. 31, bk. v; B B in fig. 32, bk. v), not alto-gether unlike the present, is likewise contained between the surface of the uterus and the outer enclosure that covers the fetus – interwoven and plaited with a complex and varied network and course of vessels freshly developed in the pro-duction of the fetus – and in a marvelous way contributes to the strength of the vessels that needed to be in one fash-ion or another supported by membranes. in the same way,

13 Plexus choroideus ventriculi lateralis.

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a substance [amnion?] of this kind is of use to the vessels of the umbilicus (nodules appearing at X X in table  4, fig. 30, bk. v), where they reach from the inner covering of the fetus into its umbilicus. also, beneath the upper end of the pectoral bone (F next to B, C in fig. 2, bk. vi) [thymus], beneath the ears (A in the 1st table of muscles) [nodi lym-phatici parotidei superficiales], in the armpits, in the bend of the elbow, in the groin (l in the 1st table of muscles) [nodi lymphatici inguinales superficiales, vasa lymphatica], behind the knee [nodi lymphatici popliteales], and in sev-eral other parts of the body, because of motions of adjacent parts, we see this glandular substance attached to many places where vessels divide, though it also serves to fill up certain cavities in the area where it is placed.

not all gl a nds suited to the distribu tion oF vessels perFor m that Function only

We know likewise that certain glandules which also aid the security and strength of vessels have been created by nature for a major function other than protecting vessels. the gland of the brain [glandula pinealis] (L lying on M, N in fig. 7, bk. vii, and D above E, G in fig. 10) that resembles the nut or cone of the pine and rests on the testes of the brain, besides contributing to the strength of the partition-ing of vessels resting upon it14 (H in fig. 6, bk. vii, and V in fig. 7), is also the reason why the vessels hanging down do not obstruct the beginning of the passage15 (K in fig, 7, bk. vii) that runs from the anterior ventricles [ventriculus tertius] of the brain to the fourth [ventriculus quartus] through the cerebral testes and buttocks [lamina tecti] (taken between N, O and P, Q16 in fig. 8, bk. vii, or B, C in fig. 10). likewise, the four-part gland [g. pituitaria] (A in figs. 16 and 18, bk. vii) lying upon the cavity or depression [sella turcica] of the cuneiform bone (M in fig. 6, ch. 6,

14 the “great vein of galen,” v. magna cerebri, which drains into the sinus rectus.

15 the “aqueduct of sylvius,” aqueductus mesencephali or a. cerebri.

16 n, O = colliculus superior; p, Q = c. inferior.

17 the reference is to De generatione animalium 787b19ff., where aristo-tle explains the relation between a

deeper voice and the presence of developed testicles: “if the testes are removed, the tautness of the passages is slackened, just as when the weight is removed from the

cord or from the warp; and as this slackens, the source (or principle) which sets the voice in movement is correspondingly loosened.” (788a3–6; loeb tr. by a.l. peck).

bk. i) inside the skull makes some accommodation for the arteries [arteria ophthalmica] or vessels spread upon it(E, F in fig. 16, bk. vii), but it was created chiefly to receive the brain’s phlegm. the almond-shaped glandules [gg. sub-mandibulares] (F in the 6th table of muscles, and E E in fig. 14, bk. v) in the jaw next to the upper part of the rough artery or the larynx, and the almost totally fleshy ones [glandulae thyroideae] (L in the 6th table of muscles, and M in figs. 1 and 3, ch. 21, bk. ii) that lie upon the base of the larynx, though they assist the distribution of vessels, are created more to provide saliva and bathe the throat with humor; likewise, the somewhat glandular substance belonging to the breasts [glandula mammaria, lobi glan-dulae mammariae] (C, D D in fig. 25, bk. v) is responsible for the production of milk. to the glandular substance [pancreas] (η η in figs. 3 and 4, bk. v; i i in fig. 12, bk. v, and L L, M M in figs. 10 and 11) occurring throughout the omentum and mesentery, professors of anatomy attribute the capacity to produce a humor suited to moistening the intestines; similarly, a glandular body [nodi lymphatici](F in figs. 14 and 15, bk. v) often found by dissectors half-way along the esophagus, close to where the heart is located, moistens the esophagus. again, the female testes [ovarium] (M in fig. 24, bk. v, r in fig. 25, and F in fig. 26), though they are seen clearly to look after the distribution of vessels entering the uterus, also serve primarily for the production of seed. the male testes (ζ in figs. 22 and 23, bk. v), though they could be counted in the class of glandules, contribute little to the distribution of vessels, though aristotle attests they are created primarily to keep vessels erect and hanging down like weavers’ weights.17 though the glandular body [prostata] (ξ in the same figures) positioned at the neck of the bladder in men assists in the various partitioning of vessels there, it serves primarily to receive the seminal ves-sels and to create their special humor.

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hoW nature provided For the strength oF the veins’ oW n bodies in the densit y oF the pl aces Where they divide

since we shall explain the form, substance, and particular use of each of these glands in their own place, no further account will be commenced here, and our attention will be directed to the system of veins – as soon as i have added that provision was made for the strength of the vessels’ dis-tribution not only by the glandules just mentioned, but also by the fact that the body of the veins appears thicker and more dense at the point where a branch separates as if

from a trunk [vena cava inferior] (something of this appears beneath the inner A and B [venae hepaticae] in the 3rd figure inserted in ch. 6), or as a trunk is divided into branches, so that a protuberance (h, k in fig. 16, bk. v)18 occurs in the openings for the branches19 not unlike the heavier substance [tunica muscularis and/or t. mucosa] of the stomach which you will hear has been made with no small foresight for strength in both its openings. indeed, this heavier substance [valvulae venosae] of the veins is seen on the inside when the veins are emptied of blood and hang limply after being dissected lengthwise. it so closes up the space inside the vein that many of those present at

18 h = gaster, pars cardiaca; k = duodenum, pars superior, ampulla.

19 Vena gastrica sinistra, v. gastroomentalis dextra.

20 in 1545, between the first and sec-ond editions of the Fabrica, giovanni battista canano had told vesalius about such valves: “when

i visited the ailing francesco d’este with [canano] at ratisbon, the lat-ter told me that at the commence-ment of the azygos vein, as well as in the orifices of the veins entering the kidneys and of the vein found near the upper region of the sa-crum, he had observed mem-

branes similar to those occurring at the origins of the pulmonary artery and the aorta, and he asserted that they prevented the reflux of the blood.” (Examen, p. 83;tr. o’malley, 1964, p. 214). canano never published his finding, and it was not until 1603 that fabricius

wrote about these valves in Devenarum ostiolis. Knowledge of them was crucial for harvey’s demonstration of the blood’s cir-culation. see saunders and o’malley, 1947, pp. 21ff.; o’malley, ibid.; andrew wear in conrad, 1995, p. 283.

a dissection will sometimes say that it is made like the membrane in the body [ostium ureteris] (r in fig. 23, bk. v) which prevents urine from being reversed or pushed back into the passages [ureter] (q q in fig. 23, bk. v) that carry it down from the kidneys into the bladder. likewise, they have often been quick to compare the projecting substance [valvulae venosae] of the vein’s body to the membranes [valvulae semilunares] (E, F, G in fig. 8, bk. vi, and B, C, D in fig. 10) that are seen in the openings at the junctions of the great artery and the vein [truncus pulmonalis] where they come out of the heart, very much as if it were impos-sible for blood to return or flow backward from the unpaired vein and the veins going to the arms, head, kid-neys, and legs – and many veins of this kind – into the trunk of the vena cava, even during the letting of blood and various motions of the spirit, because of such a mech-anism. i am quite opposed to this view, and i regularly argue in university lectures that this thicker substance of the vein’s body which appears during actual dissection of the branches has been created by nature for the sake of a certain strength. i am not unaware of the debased judg-ment of some who imagine, to their discredit, that when the veins are intact, not even air can be blown from the unpaired vein into the trunk of the vena cava.20

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Bk. 5 Ch. 15 Fig. 25

Bk. 5 Ch. 15 Fig. 25

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T H E F A B R I C

O F T H E H U M A N B O D Y

262 [362]

1 See Saunders and O’Malley (1950, p. 132) for a summary of the places in this diagram where Vesalius is at variance with modern human anatomy: “The evidences of animal anatomy and the several errors described suggest that this illustration was one of an earlier series probably drawn, like its counter

part in the Tabulae Sex, by Vesalius himself.” Singer and Rabin (1946) remark: “In the Fabrica Vesalius derides the idea that the liver has five lobes, pouring scorn on the lore and nomenclature that arises therefrom (Fabrica, p. 506). Nevertheless, he has not freed himself from these very things. He says

that the portal vein on arriving at the gate of the liver divides usually into five branches, which he figures and numbers [see present figure]. This is wrong for man but right for the ape. The facts were accessible to Vesalius in the work of a contemporary, for Massa (1536) had described a maceration

technique for demonstrating the branches of the portal and the tributaries of the hepatic veins.” (op. cit., pp. lviii–lix). See Niccolò Massa (c. 1480–1569), Liber intro-ductorius anatomiae, tr. Lind, 1975, pp. 174–253; the passage cited is on pp. 194–197.

T h e B e g i n n i n g o f T h e P o r Ta l V e i n, a n d i T s s y s T e mo f B r a n c h e s

Complete Illustration of the Portal Vein, Free from All the Parts to Which It Is Attached, Shown in the Proportion in Which One Would Draw the Liver, Gall Bladder, Stomach, Spleen, Omentum, Mesentery, and Intestines According to Their Magnitude Relative to the Present Figure, and in Their Normal Place1

T H E B E G I N N I N G O F T H E

P O R T A L V E I N , A N D I T S S Y S T E M

O F B R A N C H E S712

Bk. 5 Ch. 15 Fig. 25

Bk. 5 Ch. 15 Fig. 25

Bk. 5 Ch. 15 Fig. 25

Bk. 5 Ch. 15 Fig. 25

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263 [363]

2 As these numbers were deleted from the 1555 version of this figure (probably for the reason given in n. 1 above), the sentence explaining them was also deleted.

3 Vena portae hepatis, ramus dexter, ramus sinister.

4 1555: “and forms, as it were, its tail.”

5 The omentum (rami venosi) is drained by veins which drain into the v. gastroomentalis sinistra (Z) and v. gastroomentalis dextra (h), which drain into the v. splenica (f) and v. mesenterica superior (g), respectively. The large intestine,

colon ascendens, is drained by the v. colica dextra and v. ileocolica, which drain into the v. mesenterica superior (g) by way of l, which is erroneously shown draining into f (v. splenica) instead of g. The c. transversum is drained by the v. colica media, which drains also into the v. mesenterica superior.

6 Common trunk of the v. gastrica sinistra and v. gastrica dextra.

7 The 1555 edition omits what follows.

8 The rami omentales venae splenicae drain into the v. gastroomentalis sinistra.

9 Vesalius’ fundus, the inferior portion or greater curvature of the stomach – not to be confused with what is today called the fundus, the portion of the stomach superior to the cardiac notch.

10 Vesalius’ 1st division appears to include not only branches from the superior mesenteric vein (vv. jeju-nales, vv. ileales, v. ileocolica, v. col-ica dextra, and v. colica media) but also branch veins of the inferior mesenteric vein via s to V to the mesentery.

11 Meseraicae ac mediae & lacteae. “Meseraic” was used as late as the 19th century for “mesenteric”; the venae lacteae or chyliferae were vessels distributed through the mesentery (Castelli, 1746, s.v.). In modern usage, a lacteal vessel is a lymphatic vessel that conveys chyle from the intestine. The 1555 edition omits the second sentence above, substituting: “This is an infinite series, and quite varied, before its ends become involved in the intestines.”

INDEx OF CHARACTERS IN THE DRAWING OF THE ExPOSED PORTAL VEIN [V. PORTAE HEPATIS]

a etc. The branches of the portal vein spread through the body of the liver are marked with these five characters, here also expressing something of the form of the liver on its concave side.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Each number2 identifies one of the five branches of the portal vein (there are sometimes fewer)3 of which its trunk is essentially made up, or into which it is first distributed in the substance of the liver.

B Portal vein where it is first free from the

substance of the liver, and is at its widest.4

c c Two small branches [venae cysticae] going to the gall bladder [vesica biliaris], placed in the hollow area [fossa vesicae biliaris] of the liver.

d Vein [v. pancreaticoduodenalis] running out to the posterior area of the lower orifice [ostium pyloricum] of the stomach.

e Here the portal vein is divided into two very large trunks.

f Left and higher trunk [vena splenica].g Right and lower trunk [vena mesenteri

ca superior].h Vein [v. gastroomentalis dextra] run

ning through the right side of the bottom of the stomach, sending branches at each joint to that area and to the right portion of the upper membrane of the omentum [o. majus].

i Vein [v. pancreaticoduodenalis] sent out to the duodenum and the beginning of the jejunum.

K Branch to the right area of the bulge in the stomach where it faces the spine, divided into a number of twigs.

l Vein running out to the right side [flexura coli dextra] of the lower membrane of the omentum, and to the colon where it is brought this way.5

m Branches scattered from the left trunk [vena splenica, vv. pancreaticae] into the glandular body [pancreas] attached to the lower membrane of the omentum.

n Major vein6 beneath the stomach where it rests on the spine, ascending obliquely toward its upper orifice. Before it reaches that point, it puts forth a shoot

o. o. on each side, marked o, distributed onto the stomach in the area where it

P. rests on the spine. P is the bend in the present vein through the right side of the orifice [ostium cardiacum] of the stomach into the anterior area of the

Q. stomach. Q marks the remaining series put forth by the present vein, surrounding this orifice [ostium cardiacum] like a crown [vena gastrica sinistra, pars cardiaca].7 The shading with which we have in part marked this vein – here as in the other drawings of veins, nerves, and arteries – distinguishes the part of the vein extending to the posterior and more hidden areas from the part that is seen in the prior or anterior area, or is closer to the eyes.

r Branch of the vein [v. gastrica dextra, rami esophageales] surrounding the upper orifice of the stomach; it proceeds along the top [curvatura minor] of the stomach and puts forth twigs to the lower orifice, also during its progress distributing quite numerous branches to the front and back of the stomach.

s Very large vein [v. mesenterica inferior] running with many offshoots into the lower membrane of the omentum and to the colon where it runs alongside the stomach.

T T Fork in the left trunk where it [vena splenica] is about to reach the spleen.

V Small vein8 distributed into the left side of the lower membrane of the omentum. We have shown only its root (because it is sometimes missing) in the large figure, and illustrated its distribution in the special figure placed in the margin, where T marks the vein going to the spleen, cut off on each side. The present small vein is labeled V.

X X One of the veins [vv. gastricae breves] going to the top of the spleen, deployed to the left side of the stomach.

y Another vein of the kind marked by both X’s is labeled here.

Z Vein [v. gastroomentalis sinistra] traveling to the left side of the bottom9 of the stomach, presenting many branches to the stomach and the upper membrane of the omentum.

a etc. The distribution of veins [v. splenica, rami splenici] into the body of the spleen is marked by these characters. They are so numerous that they easily reveal the appearance of the spleen.

b b b First division10 of the right trunk [vena mesenterica superior] of the portal vein into the mesentery. Some call these veins distributed into the mesentery the “meseraic,” “middle,” and “lacteal.”11