Part 11 (1/2)

_What is the Spleen?_

The Spleen is a Bowel resembling a Hart's Tongue in shape, and situated in the Left _Hypochondrium_, over-against the Liver: Its length is about half a Foot, and its breadth equal to that of three Fingers; its Substance being soft, as that of the Liver, and its Colour like dark coagulated Blood: It is fasten'd to the _Peritonaeum_, Left Kidney, Diaphragm, and to the Caul on the inside; as also to the Stomach by certain Veins, call'd _Vasa Brevia_; nevertheless these Ligatures do not hinder it from wandering here and there in the lower Belly, where it often changeth its place, and causeth many dreadful symptoms by its irregular Motions. Its Office is to Subtilize the Blood by cleansing and refining it.

_What are the Reins?_

The Reins or Kidneys are Parts of a Fleshy Consistence, harder and more firm than that of the Liver and Spleen: They are both situated in the sides of the Umbilical Region, upon the Muscle _Psoas_, between the two Tunicks of the _Peritonaeum_; but the Right is lower than the Left: Their Shape resembleth that of a _French_ Bean, and they receive Nerves from the Stomach, whence Vomitings are frequently occasion'd in the Nephritical Colicks: They are fasten'd to the Midriff, Loins, and _Aorta_, by the _Emulgent_ Arteries; as also to the Bladder by the _Ureters_. The Right Kidney likewise adheres to the Gut _Caec.u.m_, and the Left to the _Colon_.

Their Office is to filtrate or strain the Urine in the _Pelves_ or Basons, which they have in the middle of their Body on the inside, and {74} to cause it to run thro' the Vessels call'd _Ureters_ into the Bladder.

Immediately above the Reins on each side, is a flat and soft Glandule, of the thickness of a Nut; they are nam'd _Renal Glandules_, or _Capsulae Atribiliariae_, because they contain a blackish Liquor, which (as they say) serves as it were Leaven for the Blood, to set it a fermenting.

_What is the Bladder?_

It is the Bason or Reserver of Urines, of a Membranous Substance as the Stomach, being plac'd in the middle of the Hypogastrick Region; so that it is guarded by the _Os Sacrum_ behind, and by the _Os Pubis_ before: Two Parts are to be distinguish'd therein, _viz_. its Bottom and Top; by its Membranous Bottom it is join'd to the Navel, and suspended by the means of the _Urachus_, and the two Umbilical Arteries which degenerate into Ligaments in adult Persons: As by its fleshy Neck, longer and crooked in Men, and shorter and streight in Women it cleaves to the _Intestinum r.e.c.t.u.m_ in the former, and to the Neck of the Womb in the latter. Lastly, its Office is to receive the Urines to keep them, and to discharge them from time to time.

_What are the Genitals in Men?_

They are the Spermatick Vessels, the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es, and the _p.e.n.i.s_. The Spermatick Vessels are a Vein and an Artery on each side; the former proceeding from the _Aorta_, or thick Artery of the Heart; and the other from the Branches of the _Vena Cava_ of the Liver. These Arteries and Veins are terminated in the Body of the {75} t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es, which are two in Number, enclos'd within the _s.c.r.o.t.u.m_.

The Office of the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es is to filtrate the Seed, which is brought thither from all the parts of the Body, thro' the Spermatick Vessels, called _Praeparantia_, and afterwards to cause it to pa.s.s thro' others nam'd _Deferentia_, to the _Vesiculae Seminales_, from whence it is forc'd into the _Ureter_, thro' two small and very short Ca.n.a.ls.

The _p.e.n.i.s_ or Yard is a Nervous and Membranous Part, well furnish'd with Veins and Arteries, containing in the middle the Ca.n.a.l of the _Ureter_: Its Extremity, which consists of a very delicate and spongy sort of Flesh, is call'd _Bala.n.u.s_, or _Glans_, and the Nut, the Skin that covers it being nam'd the _Praeputium_, or the Fore-Skin. Thus by the means of this swell'd Part, and stiff thro' the affluence of the Spirits, the Male injects his Seed into the _Matrix_ of the Female, to propagate his Kind.

_What are the Parts appropriated to Generation in Women?_

They are the Spermatick Vessels, the Ovaries or t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es, and the _Matrix_. The Spermatick Vessels are a Vein and an Artery on each side, as in Men: The Ovaries or t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es, situated on the side of the bottom of the _Matrix_, are almost of the same bigness with those of Men, but of a round and flat Figure. The _Vesiculae_, or little Bladders which they contain, are usually term'd _Ova_ or Eggs by Modern Anatomists; and the Vessels that pa.s.s from these t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es or Ovaries to the _Cornua_ of the _Uterus_, are call'd _Deferentia_ or _Ejaculatoria_. {76}

The _Matrix_, _Uterus_ or Womb, is the princ.i.p.al Organ of Generation, and the place where it is perform'd, resembling the Figure of a Pear with its Head upward, and being situated between the Gut _r.e.c.t.u.m_ and the Bladder: It is of a fleshy and membranous Substance, retain'd in its place by four Ligaments, fasten'd to the bottom; whereof the two upper are large ones, proceeding from the Loins, and the two lower round, taking their Rise from the Groin, where they form a kind of Goose-Foot, which is extended to the _Os Pubis_, and the flat part of the Thighs; which is the cause that Women are in danger of Miscarrying when they fall upon their Knees.

The Exterior Neck of the Womb, call'd _v.a.g.i.n.a_, is made almost in form of a Throat or Gullet, extending it self outwardly to the sides of the Lips of the _Pudendum_, and being terminated inwardly at the internal Orifice of the _Matrix_, the shape whereof resembleth that of the Muzzle or Nose of a little Dog. The outward Neck of the womb is fasten'd to the Bladder and the _Os Pubis_ before, and in the hinder part to the _Os Sacrum_: Between the Lips of the _Pudendum_ lie the _Nymphae_, which are plac'd at the Extremity of the Ca.n.a.l of the Bladder, to convey the Urines; and somewhat farther appear four Caruncles, or small pieces of Flesh, at the Entrance of the _v.a.g.i.n.a_, which when join'd together make the thin Membrane call'd _Hymen_.

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CHAP. XIV.

_Of the Anatomy of the _Thorax_, Breast, or middle _Venter_._

_What is the Breast?_

It is a Cavity in which the Heart and the Lungs are princ.i.p.ally enclos'd.

_What is to be consider'd outwardly in the Breast?_

Its extent, and the situation of the Parts therein contain'd.

_What is its extent?_