THE DIGESTION 



223 





Acol 



comes forward and crosses just in front of the lower line of 

 the stomach. It then retreats to the rear wall and passes 

 downward, being now called the descending colon. Near 

 the left hip it makes a 

 double bend called the 

 sigmoid flexure (from. 

 sigma, the Greek letter 

 S). The nine inches re- 

 maining are without the 

 pouched appearance, 

 the walls being smooth ; 

 this part is without 

 bends and is, therefore, 

 called the rectum (from 

 Latin rectus, "straight"), 



396. Absorption in 

 the large intestine is 

 very active and its con- 

 tents soon lose their 

 fluidity. Although it is 

 mostly the watery por- 

 tion that is absorbed, 

 any digested food that 

 may have escaped ab- FlG 

 sorption in the small in- 

 testine, is absorbed by R * ri S ht; L > left; "> esophagus; st, stomach; Py, 



pylorus; duo, duodenum; ccec, caecum; A. col, 



the COlon. HOW Saving ascending colon; T. col, transverse colon; D.col, 

 -, * ,-, , i descending colon; R, rectum. 



and economical the body 



is ! All the undigested and indigestible food gathers in the 



sigmoid flexure, and descends, at intervals into the rectum. 



THE LIVER 



397. The Liver not merely a Digestive Gland. The liver 

 has three functions, (i) The bile secreted by it goes down 

 the chief duct and "backs up" into the gall bladder, where 



ccec 



verm 



_ The Alimentary Canal in the 

 Abdomen. 



