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Anatomy Academy
Getting Started
I know why youre here. Youre here because there is nothing more fascinating than the structure of the human body, and you just cant wait to get started. Anyway, thats what its supposed to be like in a perfect world, but none of us lives there. Most of you are here because youre trying to become a health professional and most schools require that you take this course, or something like it, to progress in the process of getting there. In the case of Merritt College, you can either take the Bio 2/ Bio 4 series or Bio 20A/Bio 20B series. Right now, youre here in Bio 2. No matter what your reasons are for being here, I will wager that if you successfully complete this course, you will agree me that human anatomy is very interesting. At least thats the way I plan to teach it. Heres how. Well be doing a lot of hands-on learning in here. Most students benefit more from hands-on experience, rather than just lecture, because hands-on is more fun. Having said that, be advised that I will lecture during this course. The first few sessions may be mostly lecture, just to get you oriented. But beyond that, its pretty much hands on. And thats more fun. Personally, Im here to have fun. Fun is good. Mind you, youll be learning a lot of anatomy along the way, but whoever said learning cant be fun (apart from that miserable crab of a teacher you had in high school?). In this course, were in for a lot of fun. We learn more terms in Human Anatomy than most students learn in a foreign language class. But its not all dry terminology; there are a number of ways I will teach you. For one thing, we have some great models, but we will also be seeing real body parts, and thats very cool. Well see a lot of stuff under the microscope as well. Tissue work is my favorite. If you like modern art, youll love tissues. Now heres another reason why I think this course is fun. Its self-guided. I have written self guided tours of the various parts of the human body, which I encourage you to use during your time in lab. These lab guides are fun and painless. In fact, youre reading one right now. The tours will allow you and your lab partners to examine the materials during the seven hours youll be in lab each week independently. That may sound like a lot of time, but believe me, it isnt. Im hoping some open lab times will be available, should you get behind. Ill let you know if the funding is available. Of course, just because you have self-guided tours doesnt mean Im abandoning you. My assistant and I will be there to help you, but you shouldnt wait for one of us to get to your table. The Lions share of this material can be learned working was a team with your lab partners. Spend your time wisely, and dont just shut down if you get struck. Raise your hand and help will be forthcoming. This brings me to one of my pet requirements: team work. I know that some of you may feel that you are competing with one another, but that is not true in the real world either. As a matter of fact, if youre hired on as a member of a medical team, and a start to compete with your

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colleagues, youll lose you job! I guarantee it! So well learn to work together in here. Your lab partners are your ready made team. You will have as many as five partners at your lab table. You should also consider everyone in the class as part of your team. Again, youve gotten everything to gain and nothing to lose. Work together. Nothing in this class is curved. If everyone earns an A, then everyone gets an A. Lets shoot for 100% As! OK, so youre a team, and youre supposed to work together. But how? I suggest you find someone at your table who is willing to be the reader for your group. The reader will read the self guided tour to you, pausing often in an exercise to allow time for everyone at the table to explore the lab materials provided. The reader must also see this material, so you should pause frequently. You may also take turns being the reader. Make sure everyone sees the material. This is not a race. Use every minute of the class. Dont chat about what your neighbor did last night. It will not be on your test. I say this because you cant take the lab material home. Sometimes I can make it available during an open lab, or in the learning center, but dont count on it. After youve gone through the lab book and examined the models or tissues thoroughly, you can call it a day. Think youll find youll never have enough time; early departures usually mean early departure from my class roll. Dont fall victim to the tomorrow trap. Quiz each other frequently, and always, always, always come to learn. If you spend your time wisely, you will do well. If you help someone else do well, you will have a life long friend. One final thought. I have no lab book other than Anatomy Academy. We will use the text books, Human Anatomy, by Martini et al, Color Atlas of Histology, by Gartner and Hiatt, and The Anatomy of Movement, by Calais-Germain as references. Because my book lacks illustrations, I will encourage you to refer to the illustrations in these texts. I will tell you the page and figure number. It is important that you bring the texts to class, but we will never use all three at the same time. Refer to your syllabus to see which texts will be used on any given day. I am sorry to have to sell Anatomy Academy to you, but please be assured I am not making a profit from it. The money acquired from selling this book will be used to buy supplies for our lab. Hopefully, this will ensure that we have the materials we need in a timely fashion. I have tried to keep the price of the text books down. Some of you may question whether we should have three texts, but the cost of these books combined is equivalent to one text book and one published lab book. Frankly, I think the tissues book and the Anatomy of Movement book are better references than any published lab book Ive seen. Part of being in school is to have the liberty to acquire a library of great references. I am sure you will find these texts useful in the future.

Hank Fabian, DA

How to Study Anatomy

Given the chance, I like to do things differently. Teaching anatomy provides me an opportunity to do just that. Not that I am a rebel without a cause, but as this is an introductory course, I believe you should get a taste of several ways of studying anatomy. There are two principle methods for studying anatomy. Anatomy is either studied system by system (the systemic approach), or it is studied region by region (the regional approach). Each method has its virtues and drawbacks. If we do the best of each of these methods, why not do both. And heres an added bonus! Often tissues are studied as a separate course, Histology. We will also cover histology, the study of tissues, as well as a little cytology, the study of cells. But I do histology and cytology a little differently as well. Usually people learn a single example of a tissue and then go onto the next. Well see lots of examples of each tissue, as well as various stains, so that no matter where you see the tissue, youll know what it is. The principle objective of this course is to give you a good foundation, and what better way to do that than to cover a bit of everything. If you think by that last statement you are being shortchanged, never fear. We cover about 20% more anatomy than we do in Bio20A and Bio 20B combined. Be aware that there are specialized ways of viewing anatomy as well, such as X-rays and ultrasound. Some of these methods are discussed in Martini, pages 3-4. Be familiar with them.

The Fine Art of Scribbling

I will often have you draw the material you are studying in this class. This may sound great for the artists in here, but not so great for people like myself. Im a scribbler, not an artist. However, there are good reasons to scribble. When I scribble something on the blackboard or overhead, two things happen. You start to see the object as more abstract. This excites your brain and you start to pay attention to the landmarks and important shapes. When you draw the object yourself, these things become even clearer to you and become ingrained in your memory better and for a longer period of time. Scribbling makes you pay attention to detail. It forces you to look at an object longer, to study it, and ultimately, to try to re-create it. This is so important in learning anatomy. Heres a little story to prove my point. Once upon a time, I took a botany class in graduate school called Plant Morphology. It was a difficult class with a complex lab. When we looked at out slides under the microscope, I was the only one who drew (scribbled) in lab. My instructor looked at my scribbles and made fun of them. The class made fun of them. I made fun of them, but that didnt stop me from scribbling. On the first lab exam I had the highest score by far. After that, everyone scribbled. The there are the artists, who will actually enjoy drawing. I know that some of you are first class artists, and while I can

4 appreciate your work, I am sorry to say that you will never be graded on your artistic ability alone. Like everyone else, you must demonstrate to me that you know what you are doing. Therefore I ask all of you, artists and scribblers alike, to label your drawings so that I know you know what you drew. These drawings will serve another purpose. They will become study guides for you. Refer to them while studying for examinations. I think youll be happy with the results. Of course, the better your drawings, the better study aides they will be. Therefore, if youre not an artist, strive to be a better scribbler so your drawings will be more meaningful. If, on the other hand, youre a great artist, there is always room for improvement. Perhaps youll illustrate an anatomy text book some day.

Latin Endings
(Or, Its all Greek to Me)
Only a couple hundred years ago, European scholars were still fluent in Latin and Greek. This was because Latin and Greek were the common languages of scholars. This enabled a Dutchman could study in England without knowing English, and vice versa. Today, if a professor from England gave his lectures in Latin, no one would understand him. Ive heard some of these lectures, and most dont understand him in English, but I digress. Latin is a dead language for all practical purposes, and Modern Greek has evolved to the point that ancient Greek is, well ancient history. But we are still tied to these languages as biologists. Biology developed as a descriptive science, much like history or sociology. Because Latin and Greek were universal languages, biological Gender Feminine Masculine Neuter descriptions were in Latin and Greek. This means that most of the terms we study in biology, and anatomy in particular, will come from these languages. So welcome to Classical Languages 101. Fear not. I will give you the English translation of these terms, but heres something to pay attention to now. The endings of Latin words change when we go from singular to plural. The Latin endings also are based upon gender (masculine, feminine or neuter). Gender doesnt usually apply in anatomy, but nonetheless we are stuck with endings for each term based on gender. Furthermore, each of these gender based endings has singular and plural forms. Its not too complicated. See the chart below. Plural -ae (pronounced ee) -i (pronounced eye) -i (pronounced eye)

Singular -a (pronounced ah) -us (pronounced uhs) -um (pronounced oom)

There are a couple of endings you should note in Greek as well, but for our purposes, gender is less important. The ending -is singular becomes a plural

-es; likewise, the singular ending ion becomes a plural -a. For example, mitochondrion is singular; mitochondria, is plural.

5 For example, esophagus is no longer spelled, oesophagus. Such changes are generally for the better. For the most part, however, the Latin remains Latin and the Greek remains Greek.

In some cases, the word is so ingrained in the English language that we forget about the Latin ending altogether. In English, virus, the Latin word for poison, is not viri in its plural form. We do the English thing and add an s or es for the plural form and say, viruses. However, most of the terms we will learn are too obscure to have met this fate. Change is coming fast however. Some spellings have changed over the years.

The Sum of the Parts (Martini, Pages 4-5)

One of the first questions we must ask ourselves as anatomists is: How is the body organized? We can rank the components of the human body from smallest to largest in the hierarchy of organization. Rene Descartes got us going on the idea that to understand how something works, you must first disassemble it. This was back in the 17th century. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Modern science knows a great deal more about parts than Descartes did. For example, we know that all things are composed of matter. Does that matter? The answer is yes. Matter is composed of atoms, which are the smallest units of matter. But matter has a way of becoming more complex. Atoms join together to form molecules. Certain molecules join together to form the little organs of the cell, the organelles, and for that matter, organelles join forces to form cells. Fashionable theory says that you have to be at least a cell to be alive. Some biologists will argue that viruses are alive. After all, they have their own genetic material, and they are good at replicating themselves. I am of the conservative camp here and say be it virus or schmirus, they arent whole cells, so they are not alive! Just as computer viruses cannot exist without computers, cellul1ar viruses cannot exist without cells because they cannot replicate independently. Some organisms are single celled, but the human organism is composed of trillions of cells. So are the cells all mushed together in an amorphous mass, or are they organized? Take a look at yourself and youll know the answer. Even though the cell is fundamental to life, we cannot stop with cells. Cells are organized into tissues. Simply put, tissues are a group of cells massed together to perform specific functions. I love tissues because they are at the crossroads between anatomy and physiology. All physiology occurs at the cellular or tissue level, but all anatomy is a result of tissue organization. This means that tissues can organize into organs (the term organization even has the word organ in it). Organs are organized into organ systems such as the cardiovascular system or the digestive system. (See Martini pages 7-12 for a detailed view of the systems). All the

6 systems combine to form an organism, like you. Anatomy is the study of the structure of the human organism. Its visual and less intuitive than physiology, which is the study of how an organism works. You cant have one without the other in a living organism. Nonetheless, if you understand how the body is designed, physiology will be easier to comprehend. Thats because form fits function, or to put it another way, things are designed the way they are because they work best that way. Descartes would be proud.

The Body as a Territory

(or, Keep your Hands to Yourself)
Regional Landmarks (Martini, page 14: Learn them!)
Imagine that the human body is like a plot of land ready for you to explore. This land has been visited by others many times, so the landmarks have been painstakingly detailed for you. Learning the landmarks, and the vocabulary that accompanies them, will be your first goal. Some of these you are already familiar with, like your eyes and your nose. That will make things easier. The anatomical landmarks of the external body may be found in your Martini text, page 14. Im repeating myself because I want you to memorize them. Learn the Latin names, not just the common names (learn acromial vs. shoulder). These terms will be on your first test. I have provided a handout which will help you to study the anatomical landmarks. Quiz each other. Make use of your time. You need to learn these terms now because they will be back to haunt us later when we study specific body parts. This is one of the few two dimensional handouts you will receive in this class. This is because I want you to study the body in 3-D, not 2-D. I know that pictures of the human body, such as the one on your handout, are convenient (its easier to carry them, than a cadaver, and its also legal to carry them; carrying a cadaver isnt legal). You can make copies of it, a task difficult at best with a cadaver. But there are some problems as well. First, the image is two dimensional, not three dimensional and while that doesnt matter much for this first exercise, it will when you study three dimensional structures like muscles and bones. In short, the handout is a map, but it is not the actual territory. It is more important that you learn the territory than the map. The map will simply serve as your guide. Unless we are limited to two dimensional images, as we are with cells and tissues, expect to be tested from the territory. This means you should study the three dimensional body parts in lab, not the pictures. Use the pictures to

7 refresh your memory of how things looked in the lab. In short, dont scrap the map, but dont mistake the map for the real thing. Map is not territory! Having said that, this drawing of the body landmarks will appear as is on your first exam. In this case, a two dimensional image will do. I will let you know when I will have to rely on pictures. These pictures will no doubt come from your textbooks.

Up, Down, Front, Back, Left, Right and Sideways (See Martini, page 16)
You are standing on a corner, say the corner of Axilla (armpit) and Brachium (upper arm), when a stranger asks you for directions to the little finger. What will you say? You must answer him or her relative to your position, and in a language that you may not be familiar with. You must have a point of reference as well as a vocabulary that he or she can understand. This may not be so easy. Lets worry about our point of reference first and worry about the vocabulary later. When determining our point of reference, we must first ask, in this case, where is the arm? Previous experience tells me the little finger is attached to the end of the forearm, and that the forearm is attached to the upper arm, so knowing where the arm is will give me an idea of where the little finger is. But because the arm is mobile, there are many possibilities as to where the arm might be. The arm may be on the side of the body, or propped over the head, or extended away from the body, or it may be crossing the front or the back of the body. You get the idea. Suddenly asking directions to the little finger has become complicated, or has it? Anatomists know the value of consistency. Perhaps this is why every part of the body no longer has ten different names. Nonetheless, wed like to have a consistent answer to the question, where is the little finger relative to the upper arm, as well. To do so we must think of that arm as being locked in a standard position. Never mind waving it over the head. This position is called anatomical position. In anatomical position, the toes are pointed forward, the arms are straight at the sides with the palms facing forward; fingers pointing downward. The face is facing us directly. Of course, because the body is three dimensional, we would see the opposite of the backside: heels, not toes, the back of the head, not the face, the back of the hands, not the palms, etc. Check out your hand out. Is the drawing showing a man in anatomical position? If you said yes, youre correct. If you said, no, take my word for it. So why do we care about anatomical position? The good news about anatomical position is that its not difficult to give those directions anymore, because we automatically assume the person is standing in anatomical position. A stranger walks up to you on the corner of Brachium and Axilla and asks directions to the little finger. Its distal to the upper arm, you say, and the stranger knows what youre talking about. The problem is that you probably dont know what youre talking about.

8 Not yet, anyway. Be patient. Theres a little more vocabulary to learn. Listed below, is a short lexicon that will help you give directions to body structures, should a stranger, or your professor, ask. Note too, that most of these terms are opposites, like up and down and left and right. Superior: above, as is the chin is superior to the navel. Never mind your yoga class, remember we will answer everything in reference to anatomical position. Inferior: below, as in the navel is inferior to the chin. Anterior: in the front, as in the knee cap (patella) is anterior to the popliteal region (the back of the leg in the vicinity of the knee). Posterior: in the back, as in the popliteal region is posterior to the patella. Lateral: Going away from the midline of the body, as in, the ribs are lateral to the sternum. Your body has an actual midline running up and down its anterior region through the navel. It is called the linea alba. This midline is continuous though the trunk body. It is where the embryo fuses together to form a tube-like organism (yourself). Medial: Going toward the midline, as in the sternum is medial to the ribs. We use the terms lateral and medial when describing the limbs as well. The inside of your arms and legs are medial; the outside of the arms and legs are lateral.

Dorsal: On the back. The vertebral column is dorsal to the heart Ventral: On the front: The heart is ventral to the vertebral column. Note that when dealing with the human body, the terms ventral and dorsal are synonyms for anterior and posterior. This would not be true for a cat or a fish, or a catfish for that matter. The top fin of the fish would not be anterior. The head would be anterior. The top fin would be dorsal, which is why it is called the dorsal fin). Cranial: On the head. Caudal: Of the tail or tail region. I will not use these terms in class, because I rarely see them used for humans. Still, you should be familiar with them. Superficial: On the surface. The skin is superficial to the muscles. Deep: below the surface. The muscles are deep to the skin. Here we have to have a bit of knowledge beyond surface anatomy. We will use these terms more when we study the tissues. Intermediate: Between. The eyes are intermediate to the bridge of the nose and the ears. Sometimes we simply want to describe something in the middle. If a structure lies between two other structures that you can describe, its intermediate. Muscles are intermediate to skin and bones. Make sense?

Slices of Life
(See Martini, page 17-18).

9 Now that you know the territory of the human body, you can divide it up into sections. You would accomplish this by following imaginary planes, just like in geometry class. For example, if you cut the body down the middle, through the nose, the cleft on the chin, and following the linea alba through the navel and beyond down through the genitals, you would follow a sagittal plane. The result would be that your have a left side of a body and a right side of a body. No doubt youre seen this on Roadrunner cartoons. Now lets get more specific. If the sagittal cut resulted in both left and right sides being equal, that is the cut was exactly down the middle, the plane would be midsagittal. If we had more on the right side than the left, or vice versa, the plane would be parasagittal. Now lets cut through the ears, the shoulders, the hips, so that the anterior side of the body is separated form the posterior side. Again, refer to the coyotes fate in Roadrunner cartoons. This is called a frontal plane or coronal plane. Suppose you want to slice the body up like a loaf of bread. You would slice the top of the head off and work your way down. This was actually done to a body in 1 mm thick sections which was the basis for a computer program called Adam. You can check that out online. These thin cross sections follow many transverse planes. A bad magician would cut his assistant in half following a transverse plane, separating the superior and inferior regions (referring to anatomical position, of course). If the body is cut at an angle (any angle), the cut follows an oblique plane. Consider an X. The lines that form an X follow two intersecting oblique planes. Assignment: Using your anatomical regions handout demonstrate a transverse plane, the sagittal planes (midsagittal and parasagittal), and an oblique plane. What plane s already illustrated on the line drawing, assuming weve separated that front half of the body from the back half?

Look Mom! Cavities!

(See Martini, pages 18-19).
The hollow portions of the human body are called cavities. Two main cavities exist: the dorsal cavity, which holds the brain and the spinal cord, and the ventral cavity, which houses most of the familiar organs, the heart, lungs, stomach, intestines etc. The dorsal cavity can be divided into two minor cavities. These are the cranial cavity, which houses the brain, and the spinal or vertebral cavity, which houses the spinal cord. The cranial cavity is a vault which has walls composed of bones. The spinal cavity is also surrounded by bone, but is a combination of bones (vertebrae), each with individual holes (foramen). The holes of the vertebrae line up with each other to make a hollow column which is called the spinal cavity. The spinal cord rests inside of this cavity and the spinal cord connects with the brain, which rests inside the cranial cavity. This illustrates how the spinal cavity and the cranial cavity combine to form the dorsal cavity.

10 The ventral cavity is also divided into two minor cavities, the thoracic cavity and the abdominopelvic cavity. The thoracic cavity is the cavity created by the rib cage and it houses the heart, lungs, esophagus and trachea. The floor of the thoracic cavity is the diaphragm, the principle muscle used for breathing. The diaphragm is also the superior ceiling of the abdominopelvic cavity. This cavity contains the liver, gall bladder, stomach, spleen, large and small intestines, pancreas, urinary bladder and female reproductive system. The abdominopelvic cavity may be further subdivided into the abdominal cavity and the pelvic cavity. The abdominal cavity contains the organs for digestion, while the pelvic cavity contains the lower regions of the digestive organs, the urinary bladder, and the female genitalia. One more cavity. Within the thoracic cavity, between the lungs rests a central cavity called the mediastinum. When correctly pronounced it sounds like Gloria Steinum. The name literally means a helper from the middle. Recall that this is cavity within a cavity (recall that it is contained within the thoracic cavity). It contains the heart and the sac around the heart, the pericardium. It also contains the esophagus, the trachea and initial branches of the bronchi and the thymus. Well see more of the mediastinum when we view the heart and lungs. Martini, page 19, shows the mediastinum shaded in yellow in a cross section of the thoracic cavity.

Membranes to Live By
(See Martini, page 19)
Its almost too early to talk about membranes. The term membrane is defined as a thin pliable piece of tissue. Recall that tissues are collections of cells that work together to serve one or more purposes. While membranes are composed of tissue, they are clearly more than just that. Membranes help to define the body. They enclose and/or separate one region of the body from another. All are involved in some from of secretion; most regenerate quickly. Four classic types of membranes may be found in the human body. We will discuss them at length when we explore the tissues, but for now we can define them more generally. We are covered by a membrane, the skin, which is called the cutaneous membrane. The inner lining of most hollow organs contain mucous membranes. The joints contain membranes that assist in their lubrication. These are the synovial membranes. Finally, certain organs and body walls are covered with a thin membrane that not only separate these organs form the rest of the body, but also helps form a liquid barrier between the organ and its adjacent body wall which prevents friction. These are the serous membranes. Lets take a closer look at the now. Serous membranes are found on the heart, the lungs, and many of the abdominal organs as well as the walls that house these organs. Anatomy students often find these difficult to learn because nearly all the names associated with these membranes begin with the

11 letter P. Lets see what I can do to simplify things. First, lets see where the serous membranes are found. A serous membrane is either found on interior the body wall or directly on the surface of an organ. If the membrane is found on a wall, it is called parietal, which is derived from the Latin word for wall. If the serous membrane found on the organ, it is called visceral, which is derived from the Latin word for organ. When we name a serous membrane, we must first determine if the membrane is on the organ or the wall, and we must say so. In short, we begin naming the membranes by their general location. They are either visceral or parietal. Having established whether the membrane is on an organ or the body wall, we must now name the membrane by its specific location. There are three possibilities. If the organ is found on the lung or rib cage it is called pleura. If the organ is found on the heart, or it is the interior lining of the sac that surrounds the heart, we call it pericardium. If the organ is found on any of the abdominal organs or the abdominal walls, we say it is peritoneum. So its either pleura, pericardium, or peritoneum. Lets look at what each of these terms means. Pleura means rib. Indeed, the lungs reside next to the ribs and rib imprints are often seen on the lungs in cadavers. Pericardium means around the heart, and the pericardium is the sac that surrounds the heart. The membrane that covers the heart is also a pericardium because it does the same thing, only with a much tighter fit. Peritoneum means to stretch around. OK, this ones not so good. But this is the serous membrane that can be found anywhere in the abdominal cavity and the walls that help define that cavity. Now lets put the general location and the specific location names together. Remember we start with the general location first. There are six possibilities. Lets go through them individually: 1. If the serous membrane is on the lung it is the visceral pleura. 2. If the serous membrane is on the body wall of the rib cage it is the parietal pleura. 3. If the serous membrane is on heart it is the visceral pericardium. 4. If the serous membrane is on the interior of the pericardium proper (the sac that surrounds the heart), it is the parietal pericardium. 5. If the serous membrane is on the abdominal body wall it is the parietal peritoneum. 6. If the serous membrane is on the liver, the gall bladder, the stomach, or the small or large intestine, it is the visceral peritoneum. This will take a little practice, but youll get it in time. Be patient with yourself.

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Mesenteries & Omenta, Oh My!

The visceral peritoneum forms a double layered fan between the regions of the small intestine as well as the large intestine. These fans of double layered visceral peritoneum are collectively called the mesenteries. The visceral peritoneum also form an apron between the lesser curvature of the stomach and liver and between the greater curvature of the stomach and the large intestine. They are the lesser and greater omenta respectively. The omenta (omentum, singular) are riddled with fat, although they are not responsible for beer bellies. Rather, they may provide extra insulation for the internal abdominal organs.

Look Mom, More Cavities

(See Martini, page 19-20)
Some cavities are not as obvious as others. The serous membranes have cavities between them that are filled with, you guessed it, serous fluid. This fluid is created by the membrane itself and uses interstitial fluid, that fluid between cells and tissues, as a source. Recall that the purpose of having fluid between the visceral and parietal serous membranes is to prevent friction when the organs move. The lungs should not grate against the body wall, nor should the heart have to rub against the pericardium. The intestines and other abdominal organs expand and contract and should be free to do so without obstruction from the body walls or their neighboring organs. Serous fluid makes this possible. We name the serous cavities the same way we name the serous membranes, changing the terms slightly to make them adjectives instead of nouns. Pericardium becomes pericardial, pleura becomes pleural, and peritoneum becomes peritoneal. Now lets put it all together. 1. The pericardial cavity rests between the visceral and parietal pericardium. 2. The pleural cavity rests between the visceral and parietal pleura. 3. The peritoneal cavity rests between the visceral and parietal peritoneum. Got it? It takes practice.

Getting Fluent with Fluids

Lets end this exercise with a little something on fluids. There are many fluids of the body, and the main ones are blood, interstitial fluid, and lymph. Lets begin with one we all know, blood. Blood is a protein rich fluid that suspends blood cells. The protein rich liquid of blood is called

13 plasma; the cells are red blood cells and white blood cells. No, its not that simple. Well spend more time with blood in the future. Blood is contained in tubes that interconnect with one another called blood vessels. The blood vessels that send blood away from the heart are arteries and arterioles; the ones that send blood toward the heart are called veins and venules. Arterioles and venules are smaller than arteries and veins. Its the arteries and veins that we can detect on a cadaver. The tiniest vessels are the connecting points between arterioles and venules. They are the blood capillaries. Most blood capillaries are leaky. They act as miniature filters in that they tend to keep their blood cells, and often their proteins, but lose the watery part from the plasma. Because capillaries are leaky, there must be fluid outside the capillaries, and indeed there is. This is interstitial fluid, literally the fluid between tissues. Interstitial fluid provides a vehicle for materials to be exchanged between the blood stream and cells. When this fluid surrounds each cell it is called intercellular fluid. Fluid within the cell is intracellular fluid. Cells, as you might guess, are mostly fluid. Again, theres more to come later. This takes us to lymph. If blood capillaries are leaky to the fluid inside of them, but not to their cells, they must generate some excess interstitial fluid. Excess interstitial fluid is taken up by special non-blood capillaries called lymphatic capillaries. Once it is inside the lymphatic capillaries, the interstitial fluid is given a different name, lymph. The lymphatic capillaries carry the lymph through the body and drain into larger lymphatic vessels, which bring the lymph back into the blood stream. If this fails to work, people experience swelling, called edema. So blood plasma, interstitial fluid, and lymph are all related and are all recycled. We will discuss this process more when we explore the lymphatic system. All other fluids in the body are a result of leaky blood capillaries. Saliva results in part from leaky blood capillaries in the salivary glands. Urine is filtered blood fluid, with the cells and proteins removed, perspiration is a result of dilated and leaky blood capillaries in our skin, and tears result from dilated capillaries in the lacrimal glands above out eyes. The list goes on. The takehome message here is that body fluids originate as blood. Saliva and other digestive juices, urine, perspiration, and all other body fluids come from leaky capillaries. Remember fluids are easy and cool. Or perhaps we can say, no sweat!