HEARSE (an adaptation of Fr. herse, a harrow, from Lat. hirpex, hirpicem, rake or harrow, Greek ἅρπαξ, a vehicle for the conveyance of a dead body at a funeral. The most usual shape is a four-wheeled car, with a roofed and enclosed body, sometimes with glass panels, which contains the coffin. This is the only current use of the word. In its earlier forms it is usually found as “herse,” and meant, as the French word did, a harrow (q.v.). It was then applied to other objects resembling a harrow, following the French. It was then used of a portcullis, and thus becomes a heraldic term, the “herse” being frequently borne as a “charge,” as in the arms of the City of Westminster. The chief application of the word is, however, to various objects used in funeral ceremonies. A “herse” or “hearse” seems first to have been a barrow-shaped framework of wood, to hold lighted tapers and decorations placed on a bier or coffin; this later developed into an elaborate pagoda-shaped erection of woodwork or metal for the funerals of royal or other distinguished persons. This held banners, candles, armorial bearings and other heraldic devices. Complimentary verses or epitaphs were often attached to the “hearse.” An elaborate “hearse” was designed by Inigo Jones for the funeral of James I. The “hearse” is also found as a permanent erection over tombs. It is generally made of iron or other metal, and was used, not only to carry lighted candles, but also for the support of a pall during the funeral ceremony. There is a brass “hearse” in the Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick Castle, and one over the tomb of Robert Marmion and his wife at Tanfield Church near Ripon.
HEART, in anatomy.—The heart[1] is a four-chambered muscular bag, which lies in the cavity of the thorax between the two lungs. It is surrounded by another bag, the pericardium, for protective and lubricating purposes (see [Coelom and Serous Membranes]). Externally the heart is somewhat conical, its base being directed upward, backward and to the right, its apex downward, forward and to the left. In transverse section the cone is flattened, so that there is an anterior and a posterior surface and a superior and inferior border. The superior border, running obliquely downward and to the left, is very thick, and so gains the name of margo obtusus, while the inferior border is horizontal and sharp and is called margo acutus (see fig. 1). The divisions between the four chambers of the heart (namely, the two auricles and two ventricles) are indicated on the surface by grooves, and when these are followed it will be seen that the right auricle and ventricle lie on the front and right side, while the left auricle and ventricle are behind and on the left.
| Fig. 1. The Thoracic Viscera.—In this diagram the lungs are turned to the side, and the pericardium removed to display the heart, a, upper, a′, lower lobe of left lung; b, upper, b′, middle, b″, lower lobe of right lung; c, trachea; d, arch of aorta; e, superior vena cava; f, pulmonary artery; g, left, and h, right auricle; k, right, and l, left ventricle; m, inferior vena cava; n, descending aorta; 1, innominate artery; 2, right, and 4, left common carotid artery; 3, right, and 5, left subclavian artery; 6, 6, right and left innominate vein; 7 and 9, left and right internal jugular veins; 8 and 10, left and right subclavian veins; 11, 12, 13, left pulmonary artery, bronchus and vein; 14, 15, 16, right pulmonary bronchus, artery and vein; 17 and 18, left and right coronary arteries. |
| Fig. 2. Cavities of the Right Side of the Heart.—a, superior, and b, inferior vena cava; c, arch of aorta; d, pulmonary artery; e, right, and f, left auricular appendage; g, fossa ovalis; h, Eustachian valve; k, mouth of coronary vein; l, m, n, cusps of the tricuspid valve; o, o, papillary muscles; p, semilunar valve; q, corpus Arantii; r, lunula. |
The right auricle is situated at the base of the heart, and its outline is seen on looking at the organ from in front. Into the posterior part of it open the two venae cavae (see fig. 2), the superior (a) above and the inferior (b) below. In front and to the left of the superior vena cava is the right auricular appendage (e) which overlaps the front of the root of the aorta, while running obliquely from the front of one vena cava to the other is a shallow groove called the sulcus terminalis, which indicates the original separation between the true auricle in front and the sinus venosus behind. When the auricle is opened by turning the front wall to the right as a flap the following structures are exposed:
1. A muscular ridge, called the crista terminalis, corresponding to the sulcus terminalis on the exterior.
2. A series of ridges on the anterior wall and in the appendage, running downward from the last and at right angles to it, like the teeth of a comb; these are known as Musculi pectinati.
3. The orifice of the superior vena cava (fig. 2, a) at the upper and back part of the chamber.
4. The orifice of the inferior vena cava (fig. 2, b) at the lower and back part.