INTESTINE 



3024 



INVALIDES 



case to die intestate, and his property descends 

 to his lawful heirs. In the United States the 

 effect of intestacy varies in accordance with 

 the inheritance laws, which differ in the several 

 states of the Union; but in Canada and Great 

 Britain it does not affect real estate, which 

 is disposed of by the rule of descent. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Heir Real Estate 



Personal Property Will 



INTESTINE , in tes ' tin. The muscular, hose- 

 like tube conveying food from the lower end 

 of the stomach to its point of outlet is called 

 the intestine, and is divided, in accordance with 

 its size, into two portions, a large and a small 

 intestine. 



The small intestine runs from the stomach a 

 distance of about twenty feet to the point 

 where it joins or empties into the large intes- 

 tine. It is doubled up into an apparently 

 shapeless mass, but is nevertheless held in the 

 same relative position throughout life and 

 carries on the part of digestion not finished by 

 the stomach, serving in its upper part to mix 

 the juice from the liver and pancreas with its 

 own secretion. It is a muscular tube, propel- 

 ling its contents along by successive contrac- 

 tions called vermicular, or like the movement 

 of a worm. It changes the food into nourish- 

 ment for the body; the food is then absorbed 

 into the body tissues (see DIGESTION). 



The large intestine is about five feet long, 

 and is less crooked than the small. The 

 caecum is that part of the large intestine which 

 extends beyond the point where it is joined 

 by the small . intestine. From the caecum 

 projects a hollow, fingerlike tube, which is 

 called the vermiform appendix. On the right 

 side of the abdominal cavity, where the small 

 intestine opens into the large, begins that por- 

 tion of the large intestine known as the colon. 

 This extends upward (ascending colon), across 

 the middle line below the stomach (transverse 

 colon), and then passes downward on the left 

 (descending colon). It finally makes an S- 

 shaped turn in the lower left side of the ab- 

 domen, ending in a narrow tube called the 

 rectum. It is through the rectum that solid 

 waste matter is expelled from the body. 



The large intestine is an important cleansing 

 organ, and it is therefore necessary to keep it 

 in an active condition. When its movements 

 become sluggish, producing constipation, waste 

 matter accumulates in the body, and this con- 

 dition may bring on serious diseases. By 



exercising, drinking plenty of pure water and 

 eating freely of fresh fruits and vegetables one 

 can usually avoid this common ailment. Bran 

 bread or muffins are often helpful in overcom- 

 ing constipation, and the most stubborn cases 

 will usually yield to the regular use of pure 

 mineral oil. This oil has none of the objec- 

 tionable features of patent laxatives, which af- 

 ford temporary relief but at the same time 

 aggravate the malady. 



Among the diseases whose seat of activity is 

 the intestinal tract are typhoid fever, cholera 

 and hookworm. Each of these is treated in 

 these volumes under its proper heading. In- 

 testinal disturbances are frequently the cause 

 of dyspepsia. Appendicitis (which see) is 

 caused by inflammation of the vermiform ap- 

 pendix. W.A.E. 



For illustration of the intestine, see the article 

 ABDOMEN. 



INTOL'ERABLE ACTS, in American his- 

 tory, the name given to five measures passed 

 by the British Parliament early in 1774, to 

 punish the people of Massachusetts for their 

 destruction of the tea sent into Boston harbor 

 in December, 1773 (see BOSTON TEA PARTY). 

 These laws were as follows: 



(1) The first, called the Boston Port Bill, or- 

 dered the port of Boston to be closed until the 

 people paid for the tea they had destroyed. The 

 customhouse was removed to Marblehead. 



(2) The second provided that any officer or 

 soldier of the Crown who was arrested for mur- 

 der should be sent to England for trial. 



(3) The third act changed the charter of 

 Massachusetts, made provision for a military gov- 

 ernor, and forbade the people to meet in public 

 assembly without the governor's permission, ex- 

 cept for the purpose of electing officers. 



(4) The fourth law required the colonists to 

 furnish the soldiers who were quartered among 

 them with shelter, firewood, drink, bedding, soap 

 and candles. 



(5) The fifth, called the Quebec Act, extended 

 the Province of Quebec southward to the Ohio, 

 and granted freedom of worship to Roman Catho- 

 lics in the province. 



The Five Intolerable Acts only served to 

 unite the thirteen colonies for the -common 

 defense of their liberties, . and they therefore 

 hastened the outbreak of the Revolutionary 

 War (see REVOLUTIONARY WAR IN AMERICA)., 



INTOXICATING BEVERAGES. See AL- 

 COHOLIC DRINKS. 



INVALIDES, aNvalleed', HOTEL DBS, a 

 home for disabled and needy soldiers, one of 

 the most imposing structures in Paris. The 

 word is French for invalid. Its crypt, under 

 the dome, contains the sarcophagus, or coffin, 



