OF THE OMENTA. . 17 



jus. That this organ is, in fact, only subsidiary to the enlarge- 

 ment of the stomach and colon, so as to prevent the rupture of 

 their peritoneal coat, and that it is neither intended to keep the 

 belly warm, as so learned a naturalist' as M. G. Cuvierjaas sug- 

 gested j* nor is it a special store-house for the wants of the sys- 

 tem during the destitution of other aliment, farther than adipose 

 matter in other parts of the body is.f In regard to the first theo- 

 ry, it does not appear that the inhabitants of cold climates are 

 better furnished with -an omentum majus than those of the torrid 

 zone: that it is better developed in winter than it is in summer; 

 that it is tucked up in warm weather to cool the intestines, or 

 spread out in cold weather to make them more comfortable. On 

 the contrary, it is ascertained that its position is variable at all 

 seasons ; that in the coldest of weather it is as often found col- 

 lected in the epigastric region, or to one side of the abdomen, as 

 it is in the warmest; consequently, its position is the result of 

 whatever motions may, for the time, have been impressed upon 

 it by the distention of the stomach, and by the peristaltic move- 

 ments of the bowels. In regard to the theory of Dr. Rush, the 

 objection is insurmountable, that children, who are equally, if not 

 more exposed to starvation and sickness than adults, never have 

 fat, except in very small quantities, in the omentum, and that 

 only along the course of its vessels. The fat is, therefore, not to 

 be viewed as an essential circumstance in the structure of the 

 ornentum, as all children and many adults have it only very 

 sparingly; for the omentum being wanted as a membrane of 

 reserve to the stomach and colon, the deposite of fat in it, is in 

 obedience to one of the general laws of the system, whereby the 

 cellular substance beneath the serous membranes is disposed to 

 secrete fat as the individual advances in life; which is exempli- 

 fied on the heart and in the pleura. Another argument is, that 

 in the ruminating animals, where there are four stomachs, and 

 from the vegetable nature of their aliment these stomachs must, 

 in the course of digestion, be very much distended, the great 

 omentum is of proportionate magnitude.! 



As occurs in other parts of the body, also, the fat of the omen* 



* XXII. Lecon D'Anat. Comp. 



f An Inquiry into the Uses of the Omentum, by James Rush, I'hiUul. 1809, 



$ Cuvier, XXII. Leon, loc. cit 



3* 



