586 THE PANCREAS. 



increased secretion from the mucous follicles ; and fourth, 

 the liver is regarded as the only organ for depurating the 

 blood of its superfluous hydro-carbon, in the foetal state or 

 before respiration is established.* , 



THE PANCREAS, (rtaj 2pa$, all flesh.) 



This gland is next in importance to the liver, from the 

 assistance it renders in completing the digestive process, 

 the formation of the chyle. 



It is situated in the posterior epigastric region, behind the 

 FIG. 191. stomach, and in front of 



the spine, the lesser mus- 

 cle of the diaphragm, the 

 . aorta, ascending vena 

 cava, and superior mes- 

 enteric artery, and be- 

 tween the two laminae of the mesocolon. Its direction is 

 across the body, transversely from the spleen on the left, 

 with which it is connected, to the curvature of the duode- 



FIG. 191 represents the Pancreas. 1 Head of the pancreas. 2 Neck. 3 

 Body. 4 Tail. 5 Pancreatic duct. 



* In addition to these functions, M. Bernard adds those of " sanguification and 

 equilibrium." His recent experiments seem to show that the Liver forms 

 sugar, fibrin, and fat ; that these three substances contribute to establish the 

 equilibrium in the blood, and that no matter what the aliment is, the liver has 

 the power to transform it into material fit for nutrition. Thus the composition 

 of the blood is preserved in its proportionate number of regular, healthy ele- 

 ments; for the sugar, fibrin, and fat, being thus furnished, restore to the blood 

 again those substances which it is continually losing, and thus preserve the 

 blood in a state of health. In a chemical point of view, the liver is considered 

 an organ of sanguification. 



But the liver is also regarded as regulating the equilibrium of the circula- 

 tion. Thus, in carniverous animals there is less fat secreted by this organ, 

 because there is more taken, already formed, as aliment. In the herbiverous 

 class, where there is much saccharine matter consumed, the liver forms less 

 sugar ; and the less fibrin the stomach digests, the more it is found the 

 liver contains. Consequently in man, whose diet is so variable, the blood will 

 be furnished, by the liver, with that element in the largest proportion, which is 

 found most deficient in his aliment, thus making this organ a balancing organ, 

 or organ of equilibrium. From American Journal Medical Sciences, October, 

 1851. 



