DIGESTIVE ORGANS AND THEIR ANATOMY. 281 



these glands, and forms the secreting cells of the same. 

 These cells lining the glands are spoken of as the chief cells, 

 or on account of the fact that they secrete pepsin they are 

 called peptic cells. During the resting periods of the stomach 

 these cells become filled with pepsinogen granules, which 

 when digestion commences, are changed into pepsin and 

 poured into the stomach in a manner indicated in detail in 

 the preceding chapter. 



But in the gastric glands everywhere except near the 

 pyloric end, there are found underneath these peptic cells, 

 scattered here and there, other more oval cells which are 

 called oxyntic cells. This name is derived from the fact 

 that these oxyntic cells produce the hydrochloric acid of the 

 gastric juice. Although these oxyntic cells seem to lie un- 

 derneath the peptic cells and not to connect at all with the 

 lumen of the gland, special histological methods show that 

 there are delicate canals leading from these oxyntic cells in- 

 to the duct, so making possible the easy transfer of the 

 hydrochloric acid into the stomach. While most of these 

 gastric glands are simply tubular glands extending the depth 

 of the mucous coat, it not infrequently happens that two or 

 more gastric glands may have a common duct. 



Both the mucous and the sub-mucous coat of the stom- 

 ach are richly supplied with blood-vessels which reach the 

 stomach through the gastric artery, a branch of the cceliac 

 axis. The stomach is supplied with both cerebro-spinal and 

 sympathetic nerves. Branches of the pneumogastric go 

 to the stomach direct, and nerves from the solar plexus 

 just back of the stomach also reach it, while sympathetic 

 nerves run mainly to the gastric arteries. 



5. THE SMALL INTESTINE. 



The alimentary canal is continued beyond the stomach as 

 the small intestine. There is a tolerably sharp demarca- 

 tion between the pyloric end of the stomach and the begin- 

 ning of the intestine, due to the presence of an especially 

 developed sphincter muscle at the pyloric orifice, which is 



