Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 1097
| of the two, is situated below and behind the fissure, and comprises almost the whole of the base, a large portion of the costal surface, and the greater part of the posterior border. |
| The right lung is divided into three lobes, superior, middle, and inferior, by two interlobular fissures. One of these separates the inferior from the middle and superior lobes, and corresponds closely with the fissure in the left lung. Its direction is, however, more vertical, and it cuts the lower border about 7.5 cm. behind its anterior extremity. The other fissure separates the superior from the middle lobe. It begins in the previous fissure near the posterior border of the lung, and, running horizontally forward, cuts the anterior border on a level with the sternal end of the fourth costal cartilage; on the mediastinal surface it may be traced backward to the hilus. The middle lobe, the smallest lobe of the right lung, is wedge-shaped, and includes the lower part of the anterior border and the anterior part of the base of the lung. |
| The right lung, although shorter by 2.5 cm. than the left, in consequence of the diaphragm rising higher on the right side to accommodate the liver, is broader, owing to the inclination of the heart to the left side; its total capacity is greater and it weighs more than the left lung. |
The Root of the Lung (radix pulmonis).—A little above the middle of the mediastinal surface of each lung, and nearer its posterior than its anterior border, is its root, by which the lung is connected to the heart and the trachea. The root is formed by the bronchus, the pulmonary artery, the pulmonary veins, the bronchial arteries and veins, the pulmonary plexuses of nerves, lymphatic vessels, bronchial lymph glands, and areolar tissue, all of which are enclosed by a reflection of the pleura. The root of the right lung lies behind the superior vena cava and part of the right atrium, and below the azygos vein. That of the left lung passes beneath the aortic arch and in front of the descending aorta; the phrenic nerve, the pericardiacophrenic artery and vein, and the anterior pulmonary plexus, lie in front of each, and the vagus and posterior pulmonary plexus behind each; below each is the pulmonary ligament. |
| The chief structures composing the root of each lung are arranged in a similar manner from before backward on both sides, viz., the upper of the two pulmonary veins in front; the pulmonary artery in the middle; and the bronchus, together with the bronchial vessels, behind. From above downward, on the two sides, their arrangement differs, thus: |
| On the right side their position is—eparterial bronchus, pulmonary artery, hyparterial bronchus, pulmonary veins, but on the left side their position is—pulmonary artery, bronchus, pulmonary veins. The lower of the two pulmonary veins, is situated below the bronchus, at the apex or lowest part of the hilus (Figs. 972, 973). |
Divisions of the Bronchi.—Just as the lungs differ from each other in the number of their lobes, so the bronchi differ in their mode of subdivision. |
| The right bronchus gives off, about 2.5 cm. from the bifurcation of the trachea, a branch for the superior lobe. This branch arises above the level of the pulmonary artery, and is therefore named the eparterial bronchus. All the other divisions of the main stem come off below the pulmonary artery, and consequently are termed hyparterial bronchi. The first of these is distributed to the middle lobe, and the main tube then passes downward and backward into the inferior lobe, giving off in its course a series of large ventral and small dorsal branches. The ventral and dorsal branches arise alternately, and are usually eight in number—four of each kind. The branch to the middle lobe is regarded as the first of the ventral series. |
| The left bronchus passes below the level of the pulmonary artery before it divides, and hence all its branches are hyparterial; it may therefore be looked upon as |