STOMACH 243 



THE STOMACH. 

 PLATE VIII, FIG. 4, AND PLATE IX, FIG. i. 



The stomach is situated in the left side of the 

 belly, resting upon the large intestines. Its anterior 

 or convex part lies upon the diaphragm and the false 

 ribs of the left side ; its posterior or concave part is 

 concealed by the intestines, and its lower surface is 

 invested by the omentum ; attached to its left ex- 

 tremity is the spleen, and its right end is in contact 

 with the left and middle lobes of the liver. 



The stomach may be compared to a pouch or bag, 

 formed for the reception of the food after it passes 

 through the oesophagus. Perhaps no animal, in pro- 

 portion to its size, has so small a stomach as the 

 horse. The stomach of a middle-sized man, of about 

 twelve stone weight, will contain somewhat more 

 than three quarts of water ; whereas that of an 

 ordinary-sized horse, whose bulk and weight exceeds 

 that of the man by eight times, will only contain 

 three gallons, or four times the quantity of the man's. 

 However, we must bear in mind that the stomach, 

 like other hollow muscles, has the property of accom- 

 modating itself to the bulk of the matter which it 

 contains. 



This organ is of vast importance in the animal 

 economy ; in short, it is indispensable to their being ; 

 no animal is without one. This is not the case with 

 the brain, and much less with the heart, as we know 

 that animal life is sustained in some species without 

 either. That great anatomist, John Hunter, in his 

 physiological disquisitions, showed that the existence 

 of a stomach was the chief characteristic between 

 animals and vegetables. The stomach has been 



