Category: Fun Facts

Posted on

Fun Fact: cephalic vein


Anatomy Def: The cephalic vein is a superficial vein of the arm (red arrow) that drains hand, forearm and arm. It carries blood towards the head (hence the name) until it reaches the shoulder joint region where it dives to join the subclavian vein deep to the clavicle. From there, blood continues to the heart.

Outlander def: A delicious ridge of Jamie fresh-flesh! It is a stark standout as he mutters sweet-sweets to unborn Faith!

Learn about the cephalic vein in Anatomy Lesson #17, “The Wedding or Hallelujah Chorus!” Oh, yeah, Jamie’s cephalic vein is just fine and dandy on his wedding night. Look for it as Claire finally gets with the plan and circles his Nakedness. <G>

Read about the cephalic vein in Outlander book! Well, Diana actually describes the cephalic vein –  it’s the one he traces “up the inner side of my upper arm.” Shiver! But she does name the subclavian vein which receives blood from the cephalic. Hope I haven’t lost ye! ?

“Your skin is so fine I can see the blood moving beneath it,” Jamie said, tracing the path of a sunbeam across my bare stomach. “I could follow the veins from your hand to your heart.” He drew his finger gently up my wrist to the bend of the elbow, up the inner side of my upper arm, and across the slope below my collarbone. “That’s the subclavian vein,” I remarked, looking down my nose at the path of his tracking finger. “Is it? Oh, aye, because it’s below your clavicle.

See Jamie’s cephalic vein in Starz episode 206, Best laid Schemes!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Posted on

Fun Fact: expectorate

A man, Angus Mhor, spitting.

Anatomy Def: Expectorate means to eject from the throat or lungs by coughing or hawking or spitting.

Outlander Def: Feisty Angus demonstrating “Great Expectorations” to his buds just before the Battle of Prestonpans!

Learn about expectoration or spitting in Anatomy Lesson #44,  “Terrific Tunnel – GI System, Part I.” In medicine, the term means to hawk up phlegm but general use also covers spitting.

Read about expectorating, hawking, and spitting in Dragonfly in Amber book:

Cold and miserable as the weather was outside, I found myself spending a good deal of time walking the grounds of Holyrood and the Canongate. A faceful of rain seemed preferable to lungfuls of woodsmoke and germ-filled air indoors. The sounds of coughing and sneezing rang through the Palace, though the constraint of His Highness’s genteel presence caused most hawking sufferers to spit into filthy handkerchiefs or the Delft-lined fireplaces, rather than on the polished Scotch oak floors.

See Angus expectorate in Starz episode 210, Prestonpans! The split-spitting is likely due to his missing two upper incisors! <G>

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Posted on

Fun Fact: extensor digitorum

Anatomy def: Extensor digitorum (ED) is a muscle of the back of forearm that straightens four fingers (index, middle, ring, little), wrist, and elbow. It also slightly separates the fingers as it extends them.

Outlander def: The insult to injury muscle! Jamie’s puir fingers, smashed by Malicious-Mallet, are then slashed by Dougal-Dirk! A hair deeper and the blade would have severed his ED tendons! No repair possible in 18th century – Jamie would have permanently lost his grip. His days of Warrior-Work would have ended!

Learn about ED muscle in Anatomy Lesson #22, Jamie’s Hand – Symbol of Sacrifice. Extensor digitorum is more precisely known as extensor digitorum communis (EDC) to underscore the sharing of four tendons by a single muscle.

Read about Jamie’s battered digits and Claire’s fastidious repairs in Diana’s first big book, Outlander:

What has he done to you?” I asked ……Moving with exquisite care, he used his left hand to lift the object he had been cradling… It was his right hand, almost unrecognizable as a human appendage.

…A single broken finger is enough to sink a strong man to his knees with nauseated pain…
It was a long, horrible, nerve-wracking job….. some parts, such as the splinting of the two fingers with simple fractures, went quite easily. Others did not….

All five fingers eventually lay straight as new pins, stiff as sticks in their bandaged splints…

See Dougal slice Jamie’s digits in Starz episode 213, Dragonfly in Amber.

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist