Quiz this week over the cat abdominal and thoracic viscera, as well as a written portion over that day's material, the cat blood vessels and nerves.
There's a lot to cover this week, so pace
yourself, because the blood vessels take a good deal of cleaning up.
You will eventually be asked to trace the
flow of blood from the heart to any organ or limb and back again, so start paying
attention to which blood vessels branch off each other and where they all lead.
When looking at the cat nerves, don't forget about the big sciatic nerve on the lateral side of the hindlimb, which we saw way back in the second week.
Arteries are injected with red latex (often
showing up a little faded, as pink rather than red), and veins are injected
with blue latex. The Hepatic Portal System, which drains the digestive organs
and brings blood to the liver for filtration (before it empties into the Vena
Cava via the small Hepatic Veins), is not injected, and will appear brown or
clear. These vessels are easy to tear since there's no latex in them, so be
careful.
Look at both the figures in your book that show the
blood vessels going to the various organs they supply and drain, as well
as the figures that show the blood vessels alone, so you can see how they
branch off each other more clearly.
Most of the blood vessels are named for
the organs they supply or drain; for example the Gastrosplenic Vein drains
the spleen and stomach. Once you've found them and traced them to their source,
the names should be intuitive.
Nothing directly to do with the course ... this section will have an occasionally-changing recommendation for books of general scientific interest - guided by the whimsy of the web-site maintainer, of course. :) This week's pick is:
When Elephants Weep by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
(The emotional lives of animals)
