between it and the left ventricle. Its lower border is the margo
acutus already mentioned. In transverse section it is crescentic,
since the septal wall bulges into its cavity. In its interior the
following structures are seen:
1. The tricuspid valve (fig. 2, l, m, n) guarding against reflux of blood into the right auricle. This consists of a short cylindrical curtain of fibrous tissue, which projects into the ventricle from the margin of the auriculo-ventricular aperture, while from its free edge three triangular flaps hang down, the bases of which touch one another. These cusps are spoken of as septal, marginal and infundibular, from their position.
2. The chordae tendineae are fine fibrous cords which fasten the cusps to the musculi papillares and ventricular wall, and prevent the valve being turned inside out when the ventricle contracts.
3. The columnae carneae are fleshy columns, and are of three kinds. The first are attached to the wall of the ventricle in their whole length and are merely sculptured in relief, as it were; the second are attached by both ends and are free in the middle; while the third are known as the musculi papillares and are attached by one end to the ventricular wall, the other end giving attachment to the chordae tendineae. These musculi papillares are grouped into three bundles (fig. 2, o).
4. The moderator band is really one of the second kind of columnae carneae which stretches from the septal to the anterior wall of the ventricle.
5. The pulmonary valve (fig. 2, p) at the opening of the pulmonary artery has three crescentic, pocket-like cusps, which, when the ventricle is filling, completely close the aperture, but during the contraction of the ventricle fit into three small niches known as the sinuses of Valsalva, and so are quite out of the way of the escaping blood. In the middle of the free margin of each is a small knob called the corpus Arantii (fig. 2, q), and on each side of this a thin crescent-shaped flap, the lunula (fig. 2, r), which is only made of two layers of endocardium, whereas in the rest of the cusp there is a fibrous backing between these two layers.
The left auricle is situated at the back of the base of the heart, behind and to the left of the right auricle. Running down behind it are the oesophagus and the thoracic aorta. When it is opened it is seen to have a much lighter colour than the other cavities, owing to the greater thickness of its endocardium obscuring the red muscle beneath. There are no musculi pectinati except in the auricular appendage. The openings of the four pulmonary veins are placed two on each side of the posterior wall, but sometimes there may be three on the right side, and only one on the left. On the septal wall is a small depression like the mark of a finger-nail, which corresponds to the anterior part of the fossa ovalis and often forms a valvular communication with the right auricle. The auriculo-ventricular orifice is large and oval, and is directed downward and to the left. Foramina Thebesii and venae minimae cordis are found in this auricle, as in the right, although the chamber is one for arterial or oxidized blood.
At the lower part of the posterior surface of the unopened auricle, lying in the left auriculo-ventricular furrow, is the coronary sinus, which receives most of the veins returning the blood from the heart substance; these are the right and left coronary veins at each extremity and the posterior and left cardiac veins from below. One small vein, called the oblique vein of Marshall, runs down into it across the posterior surface of the auricle, from below the left lower pulmonary vein, and is of morphological interest.
The left ventricle is conical, the base being above, behind and to the right, while the apex corresponds to the apex of the heart and lies opposite the fifth intercostal space, 312 in. from the mid line. The following structures are seen inside it:—
1. The mitral valve guarding the auriculo-ventricular opening has the same arrangement as the tricuspid, already described, save that there are only two cusps, named marginal and aortic, the latter of which is the larger.
2. The chordae tendineae and columnae carneae resemble those of the right ventricle, though there are only two bundles of musculi papillares instead of three. These are very large. A moderator band has been found as an abnormality (see J. Anat. and Phys. vol. xxx. p. 568).
3. The aortic valve has the same structure as the pulmonary, though the cusps are more massive. From the anterior and left posterior sinuses of Valsalva the coronary arteries arise. That part of the ventricle just below the aortic valve, corresponding to the infundibulum on the right, is known as the aortic vestibule.
The walls of the left ventricle are three times as thick as those of the right, except at the apex, where they are thinner. The septum ventriculorum is concave towards the left ventricle, so that a transverse section of that cavity is nearly circular. The greater part of it has nearly the same thickness as the rest of the left ventricular wall and is muscular, but a small portion of the upper part is membranous and thin, and is called the pars membranacea septi; it lies between the aortic and pulmonary orifices.
Structure of the Heart.—The arrangement of the muscular fibres of the heart is very complicated and only imperfectly known. For details one of the larger manuals, such as Cunningham’s Anatomy (London, 1910), or Gray’s Anatomy (London, 1909), should be consulted. The general scheme is that there are superficial fibres common to the two auricles and two ventricles and deeper fibres for each cavity. Until recently no fibres had been traced from the auricles to the ventricles, though Gaskell predicted that these would be found, and the credit for first demonstrating them is due to Stanley Kent, their details having subsequently been worked out by W. His, Junr., and S. Tawara. The fibres of this auriculo-ventricular bundle begin, in the right auricle, below the opening of the coronary sinus, and run forward on the right side of the auricular septum, below the fossa ovalis, and close to the auriculo-ventricular septum. Above the septal flap of the tricuspid valve they thicken and divide into two main branches, one on either side of the ventricular septum, which run down to the bases of the anterior and posterior papillary muscles, and so reach the walls of the ventricle, where their secondary branches form the fibres of Purkinje. The bundle is best seen in the hearts of young Ruminants, and it is presumably through it that the wave of contraction passes from the auricles to the ventricles (see article by A. Keith and M. Flack, Lancet, 11th of August 1906, p. 359).
The central fibrous body is a triangular mass of fibro-cartilage, situated between the two auriculo-ventricular and the aortic orifices. The upper part of the septum ventriculorum blends with it. The endocardium is a delicate layer of endothelial cells backed by a very thin layer of fibro-elastic tissue; it is continuous with the endothelium of the great vessels and lines the whole of the cavities of the heart.
The heart is roughly about the size of the closed fist and weighs from 8 to 12 oz.; it continues to increase in size up to about fifty years of age, but the increase is more marked in the male than in the female. Each ventricle holds about 4 f. oz. of blood, and each auricle rather less. The nerves of the heart are derived from the vagus, spinal accessory and sympathetic, through the superficial and deep cardiac plexuses.
 |
| Fig. 3.—Formation of Septa. Diagram of the formation of some of the septa of the heart (viewed from the right side). |
S.V.Sinus venosus. |
In the article on the arteries (q.v.) the formation and coalescence of the two primitive ventral aortae to form the heart are noticed, so that we may here start with a straight median tube lying ventral to the pharynx and being prolonged cephalad into the ventral aortae and caudad into the vitelline veins. This soon shows four dilatations, which, from the tail towards the head end, are called the sinus venosus, the auricle, the ventricle and the truncus[1] arteriosus. As the tubular heart grows more rapidly than the pericardium which contains it, it becomes bent into the form of an S laid on its side (∾), the ventral convexity being the ventricle and the dorsal the auricle. The passage from the auricle to the ventricle is known as the auricular canal, and in the dorsal and ventral parts of this appear two thickenings
- ↑ This is often called bulbus arteriosus, but it will be seen that the term is used rather differently in comparative anatomy.
