182 



THE CAT. 



[chap. VI. 



of the pancreas, and that of the liver, converting more of what 

 remains of starch into sugar, dissolving more of what nitrogenous 

 food has not been dissolved already, and making (by minute division 

 and mixture) the oleaginous matters into an emulsion. 



But one great office of the smaU intestine is the absorption of 

 nutriment. This is already begun through the walls of the vessels 

 of the stomach, but the villi of the intestine carry it on much more 

 effectively. The most easily dissolved or transmissible fluid passes 

 into the blood through the walls of the blood-vessels of the 

 villi, while fatty and albuminoid matters find their way into the 

 lacteals. 



§ 16. At the end of the small intestine, at its junction with the 

 large, is a blind diverticulum or cul-de-sac, called the cwciim. 



The LARGE INTESTINE is rather more than a quarter of the length 

 of the small intestine (it is about a foot long), but it is considerably 



Fitr. 05.— The Cecum. 



A. Seen externally. 



B. Cut ojjen. 



cm. Ciccuui towards its apex. 



g. Mesenteric glands. 



i. Ileum. 



V. Uio-ciecal valve. 



wider and tolerably uniform in width, tapering somewhat to its 

 hinder end. Instead of being extremely convoluted, it forms but a 

 single sweep forwards, transversely, and backwards. Its exterior 

 exhibits a few slightly-indicated transverse depressions. It begins 

 on the right side of the abdominal cavity, and passes forwards as 

 what is called the ascending colon ; it passes across to the left, on tlic 

 posterior side of the stomach, as the transverse colon, and then turns 

 backwards as the dcKccndinrj colon, ending in the terminal portion 

 of the intestine called the reef ton. 



The CECUM may be said to be that part of the large intestine 



