a THE STOMACH. 1008 
The distance in a direct line from the cardiac to the pyloric orifice varies from 3 to 5 inches 
75 to 125 em.), and that from the cardia to the summit of the fundus from 24 to 4 inches 
(6:2 to 10:0 em.). 
As regards the weight, I have found the average of twelve wet specimens freed from their 
omenta to be 4} oz. (135 grms.), with a maximum of 7 oz. (198-45 grms.) and a minimum of 
33 oz. (99°22 erms.). Glendenning gives the weight as 44 ounces. 7 
Relations and Connexions of the Stomach.—The relations will be much 
more readily understood if we briefly consider the disposition of the portion of 
the abdominal cavity in which the stomach lies, a portion which has sueh con- 
stant and definite surroundings that it perhaps merits the title of “stomach 
chamber.” 
The stomach chamber (Figs. 676 and 677) is a space in the upper and left portion of the 
abdominal cavity which is completely occupied by the stomach when that organ is distended, 
but into which the transverse colon also passes, doubling up over the stomach, when this 
latter is empty. 
The chamber presents an arched roof, an irregularly sloping floor, and an anterior wall. The 
roof is formed partly by the visceral surface of the left lobe of the liver, and in the rest of its 
extent by the left cupola of 
the diaphragm, which arches 
eradually downwards behind 
and on the left to meet the 
floor. 
The floor or “stomach bed” 
(Fig. 676) is a sloping shelf 
on which the under surface 
of the stomach rests, and by 
which it is supported. The 
bed is formed behind by the 
top of the left kidney (with 
its suprarenal capsule) and 
the gastric surface of the 
spleen; in front of this, by 
the wide upper surface of 
the pancreas; and more 
anteriorly still, by the trans- 
verse mesocolon running for- 
wards above the small Yay \ : 
intestine, from the anterior Gali-bladder Liver Duodenum 
edge of the pancreas to 
the colon (Fig. 676), which 
latter completes the floor — From the same body as the preceding figure, after the stomach had been 
anteriorly. removed, 
Finally, the anterior wall 
of the stomach chamber is formed hy the abdominal wall, between the ribs on the left and the 
liver on the right side. 
This chamber is completely filled by the stomach, when that organ is distended. When, on 
the other hand, the stomach is empty and contracted, it still rests on the floor, or stomach bed, 
but occupies only the lower portion of the chamber, whilst the rest of the space is filled by the 
transverse colon, which turns gradually upwards as the stomach retracts, and finally comes to 
lie both above and in front of that organ and immediately beneath the diaphragm—a fact to be 
remembered in clinical examinations of this region. 
_ Left cupola 
of diaphragim 
Stomach 
~ chamber 
Spleen 
Splenic 
flexure 
_Transverse 
mesocolon 
Descending 
colon 
Fic. 676.—THE STOMACH CHAMBER AND STOMACH BED. 
The upper (or parietal) surface of the stomach is more convex and more extensive 
than the lower. It hes, when the organ is distended, in contact with the roof and 
anterior wall of the stomach chamber, and thus comes into relation with the under 
surface of the left lobe of the liver on the right, the vault of the diaphragm on the 
left, and the anterior abdominal wall in front (Fig. 670). When the stomach is 
empty, on the other hand, the transverse colon, as just explained, doubles up over 
it, and separates this surface from the roof of the chamber. 
The lower (or visceral) surface, more flattened than the upper, rests upon the 
stomach bed, and comes into relation with the following parts:—Behind, at the 
fundus, with the diaphragm and gastric surface of the spleen; in front of this with 
the left kidney, the suprarenal, and the upper surface of the pancreas, and, more 
anteriorly still, with the transverse mesocolon and colon. From all of these the 
stomach is separated by the small sac of the peritoneum (the anterior layer of 
which clothes this surface), except below and to the left of the eardia, where the 
