Of the two kinds of blood, the one, contained in the venous
system, was dark and thick and rich in grosser elements, and served for
the general nutrition of the body. This system took its origin, as
is clearly shown in the figure, in the liver, the central organ of
nutrition and of sanguification. From the portal system were absorbed,
through the stomach and intestines, the products of digestion. From the
liver extend the venae cavae, one to supply the head and arms, the other
the lower extremities: extending from the right heart was a branch,
corresponding to the pulmonary artery, the arterial vein which
distributed blood to the lungs. This was the closed venous system. The
arterial system, shown, as you see, quite separate in Figure 31, was
full of a thinner, brighter, warmer blood, characterized by the presence
of an abundance of the vital spirits. Warmed in the ventricle, it
distributed vital heat to all parts of the body. The two systems were
closed and communicated with each other only through certain pores or
perforations in the septum separating the ventricles. At the periphery,
however, Galen recognized (as had been done already by the Alexandrians)
that the arteries anastomose with the veins, ".
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