Heart bones

The heart bones (Latin Ossa cordis ) are two cross-shaped bones that are found in the septum of the antechamber in larger artifacts (giraffes, cattle, sheep, camels, deer, pigs). It is a local ossification occurring in old age in the septum of the heart chambers . Heart bones occur in pairs.

The occurrence has been known since ancient times . Aristotle already describes the heart bones in ruminants in the anatomy of his animal science.

The heart bones of deer ( Hirsch Heart Cross, Hirschkreuzlein , Latin os de corde cervi ) was in earlier centuries against heart disease used both in folk medicine as well, such as in Circa instans the Middle Ages, in the materia medica . The stag had a special place in the medieval world of ideas and was considered a symbol for Jesus Christ - derived from Psalm 42 : 2.

Heart bones were also described in chimpanzees for the first time in 2020 .

literature

Gustav von Vaerst : About occurrence, anatomical and histological development as well as physiological importance of the heart bones in ruminants. JB Hirschfeld, Leipzig 1886, (Erlangen, University, dissertation, 1886; digitized version (PDF; 2.41 MB )).

Web links

supporting documents

^ From: Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon. Volume 9: Heldburg - Iuxta. 14th, completely revised edition. Brockhaus, Leipzig et al. 1894, p. 105.
↑ From: Angela von den Driesch , Joris Peters: History of Veterinary Medicine. 5000 years of veterinary medicine. 2nd, updated and expanded edition. Schattauer, Stuttgart et al. 2003, ISBN 3-7945-2169-2 , p. 115; Aristotle, De partibus animalium III, 4, 666b18-21
↑ Konrad Goehl : Observations and additions to the 'Circa instans'. In: Medical historical messages. Journal for the history of science and specialist prose research. Volume 34, 2015 (2016), pp. 69-77, here: pp. 70 and 72 f. (Exchange of the expensive deer heart bone in the sense of a drug counterfeit for goat cartilage).
^ From: Andreas Mettenleiter : Adam Christian Thebesius (1686–1732) and the discovery of the Vasa Cordis Minima. Biography, text edition, medical historical appraisal and reception history (= Sudhoff's archive . Supplement. 47). Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07917-3 , p. 148, (at the same time: Würzburg, University, dissertation, 2000).
↑ Archbishopric Bamberg: Part 20: Hirsch ( Memento from February 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Sophie Moittié et al .: Discovery of os cordis in the cardiac skeleton of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In: Scientific Reports. Volume 10, Article No. 9417, 2020, doi: 10.1038 / s41598-020-66345-7 .
A rare heart bone is discovered in chimpanzees. On: eurekalert.org from June 10, 2020.

[1] From: Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon. Volume 9: Heldburg - Iuxta. 14th, completely revised edition. Brockhaus, Leipzig et al. 1894, p. 105.

[2] From: Angela von den Driesch , Joris Peters: History of Veterinary Medicine. 5000 years of veterinary medicine. 2nd, updated and expanded edition. Schattauer, Stuttgart et al. 2003, ISBN 3-7945-2169-2 , p. 115; Aristotle, De partibus animalium III, 4, 666b18-21

[3] Konrad Goehl : Observations and additions to the 'Circa instans'. In: Medical historical messages. Journal for the history of science and specialist prose research. Volume 34, 2015 (2016), pp. 69-77, here: pp. 70 and 72 f. (Exchange of the expensive deer heart bone in the sense of a drug counterfeit for goat cartilage).

[4] From: Andreas Mettenleiter : Adam Christian Thebesius (1686–1732) and the discovery of the Vasa Cordis Minima. Biography, text edition, medical historical appraisal and reception history (= Sudhoff's archive . Supplement. 47). Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07917-3 , p. 148, (at the same time: Würzburg, University, dissertation, 2000).

[5] Archbishopric Bamberg: Part 20: Hirsch ( Memento from February 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive )

[6] Sophie Moittié et al .: Discovery of os cordis in the cardiac skeleton of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In: Scientific Reports. Volume 10, Article No. 9417, 2020, doi: 10.1038 / s41598-020-66345-7 .
A rare heart bone is discovered in chimpanzees. On: eurekalert.org from June 10, 2020.