SOME POINTS IN THE ANATOMY OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. 43 



face into the cupola of the diaphragm during distension, and the 

 descent of the under surface as it passes forwards towards the 

 yielding anterior abdominal wall, where it is supported only by 

 intestines. 



There is, however, as pointed out by Jonnesco, no distinct 

 rotation of the organ on its long axis, no turning of the great 

 curvature more forwards, nor of the so-called anterior surface 

 more upwards. 



In the change from the distended to the empty state, these 

 stages are reversed : the whole stomach is contracted or drawn 

 in from all directions towards the lesser curvature ; this latter 

 is bent upon itself to an acute angle, and the long axis of the 

 organ becoming less oblique, approaches the horizontal. 



Although this description of the shape and direction of the 

 stomach is at variance with the generally accepted accounts, it 

 is based upon the examination of a considerable number of 

 hardened bodies, and has been found to apply so generally in 

 well formed males that it is advanced here as the condition 

 most frequently found during life, or immediately after death. 



In connection with the usual description, viz., that the car- 

 diac two-thirds or three-fourths of the stomach is placed 

 vertically, it may be pointed out that the antero-posterior depth 

 of the portion of the abdominal cavity in which this part of the 

 stomach lies is often over 5 — or even 6 — inches, and this with a 

 stomach the greatest diameter of which is 4 or 4| inches. Again, 

 with the arrangement of the pancreas and transverse mesocolori 

 which is found to exist in hardened specimens, and which will be 

 described in connection with the stomach bed, it is impossible 

 for the cardiac portion of the stomach to lie vertically without 

 displacement of the pancreas and other parts. It must, how- 

 ever, be admitted that in the female, as a result of tight-lacing, 

 the stomach is often found to assume an abnormal and almost 

 vertical position ; but this condition is associated with displace- 

 ment of other abdominal organs in the neighbourhood. 



It should perhaps be mentioned in this connection that the 

 posterior part of the under surface of the stomach, as far for- 

 wards, namely, as the anterior edge of the pancreas, is nearer to 

 the horizontal than the portion in front of it. This is due to 

 the firm support which the kidney and pancreas aftbrd to 



