Beccntly attention has been recalled to the course of the blood through the fetal heart. Barclay, Barcroft, Barron and Franklin ( '38, '39) have studied the circulation through the heart of fetal sheep by x-ray cinematography, after injecting radio-opaque media into the blood stream. Windle and Becker ('40) have observed directly the flow of india ink through the fetal circulation in the cat and guinea pig. These investigators concluded that the two caval streanis entering the right atrium are kept substantially separate so long as physiologic conditions prevail. Most of the blood from the inferior vena cava is passed through the foramen ovale t o the left side of the heart, while the superior caval blood reaches the right ventricle with a little of the blood from the inferior vena cava. Notes of historical interest and the significance of these observatioiis have been discussed in the cited publications.It was the purpose of the present study to illustrate and demonstrate to students of embryology the facts learned in the above-mentioned investigations. A working model of the fetal right atrium was prepared. I n "neoprene" latex was found a material which duplicates to some extent the elasticity of the %rails of the atria of the heart and lends itself to accurate fabrication in reconstruction.A kitten which had been prevented from breathing after natural delivery was fixed in situ in formalin. The heart and 1 1)emonstratcd a t the
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