726 ORGANS OF DIGESTION. 



teric artery, along which it passes to invest the small intestines, and, returning 

 to the vertebral column, form the mesentery ; whilst, on either side, it covers the 

 ascending and descending colon, and is thus continuous with the peritoneum 

 lining the walls of the abdomen. From the root of the mesentery, it descends 

 along the front of the spine into the pelvis, and surrounds the upper part of the 

 rectum, which it holds in its position by means of a distinct fold, the meso-rectum. 

 Its course in the male and female now differs. 



In the male, it forms a fold between the rectum and bladder, the recto-vesi- 

 cal fold, and ascends over the posterior surface of the latter organ as far as its 

 summit. 



In the female, it descends into the pelvis in front of the rectum, covers a 

 small part of the posterior wall of the vagina, and is then reflected on to the 

 uterus, the fundus and body of which it covers. From the sides of the uterus 

 it is reflected on each side of the wall of the pelvis, forming the broad liga- 



Fig. 397. The Eeflections of the Peritoneum, as seen in a vertical Section of the Abdomen. 



ments; and from the anterior surface of the uterus it ascends upon the posterior 

 wall of the bladder, as far as its summit. From this point it may be traced, as 

 in the male, ascending upon the anterior parietes of the abdomen, to the under 

 surface of the Diaphragm; from which it is reflected upon the liver, forming 

 the upper layer of the coronary, and the lateral and longitudinal ligaments. It 

 then covers the upper and under surfaces of the liver, and at the transverse 

 fissure becomes continuous with the anterior layer of the lesser omentum, the 

 point whence its reflection was originally traced. 



The posterior layer of the lesser omentum descends to the lesser curvature 

 of the stomach, and covers its posterior surface as far as the great curvature; 

 it then descends for some distance in front of the small intestines, and, returning 



