OF THE INTESTINES. 257 



of too great a quantity of faeces into the large intes- 

 tines, and regurgitation into the small. 



415 The large intestines, divided like the small into 

 three parts, commence by the ccecwn (which has a ver- 

 miform process whose use in man is unknown)*, and 

 afford a very ample receptacle, in which the faeces 

 may be collected and retained till the period of their 

 discharge arrives. 



416. They exceed the small intestines in thickness 

 and strength, as well as in capacity. The muscular 

 coat has this peculiarity — that its longitudinal fibres, 

 excepting at the extremity of the rectum, are collected 

 into three bands, called ligaments of the colon ;+ and 

 the intestines themselves are divided into a kind of 

 prominent cells. The inner coat is not so beautifully 

 flocculent as in the small intestines, but more similar 

 to that of the stomach. 



417. Their peristaltic motion is much fainter than 

 that of the small intestines. On the other hand, they 

 experience to a greater degree the pressure of the abdo- 

 minal parietes, to which the whole length of the colon 

 is contiguous. 



418. They gently propel the faeces into the rectum, 

 which thus becomes internally stimulated to discharge 

 its contents. The discharge is facilitated by the ab- 

 sence of transverse rugae, and especially by the great 

 quantity of mucus at the extremity of the bowels. 



419. It is principally effected by the pressure of 



* Lieberkuhn, De valvu la collet iisu processus vermicularis. LB. 1739. 4to. 

 J.Vossc, De intestino ca>co ejtisque appendice vermiformi. Gotting. 1/49. 4to. 



t Eustacliius, tab. x. fig. 2, 4, 5. 



S 



