34 ORGANS OF DIGESTION. 



small intestine by giving it a peritoneal coat, is, of course, the 

 whole length of the bowel, (duodenum excepted,) and, conse- 

 quently, from twenty-three to twenty-seven feet in length. This 

 expansion becomes intelligible the moment that the arrangement 

 of the part is inspected, and is somewhat after the manner of a 

 ruffle, except that it is not puckered at the root. 



The two laminaB of peritoneum which form the mesentery, 

 contain between them the superior mesenteric artery, and the 

 corresponding portion of the superior mesenteric vein ; an abun- 

 dance of lymphatic or lacteal glands and vessels; ramifications 

 from the solar plexus of the sympathetic nerves; and a considera- 

 ble quantity of cellular and of adipose tissue. The superior la- 

 mina is continued directly into the mesocolon, and at the place 

 of junction the transverse part of the duodenum is very percep- 

 tible beneath. The lower lamina descends along the posterior 

 parietes of the abdomen, concealing the large blood vessels 

 there and the ureters. 



Of the Large Intestine. 



The Large Intestine (Inteslinum Crassum) receives the effete 

 matter from the small, and is supposed also to make some pecu- 

 liar secretion of faecal matter from its internal surface. It ex- 

 ceeds much in its diameter the small intestine, and differs also 

 from it in not being by any means so regularly cylindrical. It 

 commences at the inferior end of the small intestine, and termi- 

 nates at the anus, describing in this course, as mentioned, a cir- 

 cle which surrounds two-thirds of the abdomen, and embraces 

 the intestinum tenue. Like the latter, though only a continuous 

 tube, it is divided into three parts; the commencement of it, 

 which is below the insertion of the ileum, and about two inches 

 in length, is the Coecum, or Caput Coli ; the remaining portion, 

 which occupies almost its whole length, is called the Colon, 

 until it reaches the pelvis, when the name is converted into 

 Rectum. 



The Mesocolon is a reflection or duplication of peritoneum, 

 that fixes the large intestine to the posterior parietes of the ab- 

 domen. This duplicature is not of a breadth so uniform as the 



