500 THE STOMACH. 



and slightly above the posterior termination of the inferior turbi- 

 nated bone, is the irregular depression in the mucous membrane, 

 marking the entrance of the Eustachian tube. Beneath the. poste- 

 rior nares is the large opening into the mouth, partly veiled by the 

 soft palate'; and, beneath the root of the tongue, the opening of the 

 larynx. The assop/iageal opening is the lower constricted portion 

 of the pharynx. 



(Esophagus. The O3sophagus (o'/sw, to bear, (pa/siv, to eat) is a 

 slightly flexuous canal, inclining to the left in the neck, to the right 

 in the upper part of the thorax,* and again to the left in its course 

 through the posterior mediastinum ; it commences at the termina- 

 tion of the pharynx, opposite the lower border of the ericoid carti- 

 lage and fifth cervical vertebra, and descends the neck, behind and 

 rather to the left of the trachea. It then passes behind the arch of 

 the aorta, and along the posterior mediastinum, lying in front of the 

 thoracic aorta, to the resophageal opening in the diaphragm, where 

 it enters the abdomen, and terminates at the cardiac orifice of the 

 stomach at a point about opposite to the tenth dorsal vertebra. The 

 ossophagus is flattened and narrow in the cervical region, and cylin- 

 drical in the rest of its course; its largest diameter is met with near 

 to the lower part of its course. 



THE STOMACH. 



The stomach is an expansion of the alimentary canal, situated in 

 the left hypochondriac, and extending into the epigastric region. It 

 is directed somewhat obliquely from above downwards, from left to 

 right and from before backwards ; and in the female where the 

 injurious system of tight-lacing has been pursued is longer than in 

 the male. On account of the peculiarity of its form, it is. divided 

 into a greater or splenic, and a lesser or pyloric, end ; a lesser cur- 

 vature above, and a greater curvature below; an anterior and a 

 posterior surface ; a cardiac orifice, and a pyloric orifice. The great 

 end is not only of large size, but expands beyond the point of 

 entrance of the oesophagus, and is embraced by the concave sur- 

 face of the spleen. The pylorus is the small and contracted extre- 

 mity of the organ ; near to its extremity is a small dilatation which 

 was called by Willis the antrum of the pylorus. The two curva- 

 tures give attachment to the peritoneum; the upper curve to the 

 lesser omentum, and the lower to the greater omentum. The 

 anterior surface looks upwards and forwards, and is in relation 

 with the diaphragm which separates it from the viscera of the 

 thorax and from the six lower ribs, with the left lobe of the liver, 

 and in the epigastric region, with the abdominal parietes. The 

 posterior surface looks downwards and backwards, and is in rela- 

 tion with the diaphragm, the pancreas, the third portion of. the 



* Cruveilhier remarks that this inflexion explains the obstruction which a bougie 

 sometimes meets with in its passage along the oesophagus opposite the first rib. 



