24 ORGANS OF DIGESTION. 



tural configuration and by the small omentum. The great cur- 

 vature forms the whole inferior periphery of the organ, extend- 

 ing also from one orifice to the other. When the stomach is 

 flattened, these curvatures form very evident boundaries to the 

 anterior and the posterior faces. 



The Extremities of this organ are singularly different in 

 size. That on the left forms the base of the cone, or the 

 large extremity, and projects ^considerably beyond the cardia 

 towards the spleen. It is a rounded cul-de-sac, or tuberosity, 

 the dimensions of which will, of course, vary according to the 

 state of distention. The right extremity, on the contrary, is 

 produced by a gradual diminution of the organ from its middle 

 to the duodenum. When the stomach has approached within 

 an inch or two of the latter, it suffers a sort of constriction, 

 which gives to the right end a more cylindrical shape. This 

 part is sometimes called the little cul-de-sac, or the antrum 

 pylori. 



Where the stomach has been kept empty for some time pre- 

 viously to death, it is found not much larger than an intestine; 

 its variable magnitude, therefore, prevents any very rigid rule 

 of dimension from being applied to it; most commonly, how- 

 ever, we find it between the capaciousness of a pint and a quart 

 measure. 



It is retained in its situation by its continuity with the oeso- 

 phagus and duodenum; also by the hepatico-gastric, and the 

 gastro-splenic omentum. It is in contact above, at its lesser 

 curvature, with the diaphragm, the left lobe of the liver, and 

 the lobulus spigelii; at its great extremity with the spleen, at 

 its posterior face with the pancreas, and at its greater curvature 

 with the colon and the mesocolon. 



The stomach is formed by four Coats or lamina?, of a charac- 

 ter essentially differing from each other: The Peritoneal, the 

 Muscular, the Nervous, and the Mucous. 



The Peritoneal Coat envelops the stomach completely, and 

 adheres closely, except at the curvatures, where, as has been 

 mentioned, a provision is made for the distention of the organ, 

 by the looseness and the separability of the attachment of the 

 two lamina? of the omentum minus and majus. An uncovered 

 space will, consequently, be found between the laminae at these 



