154 THE ABDOMEN. 



pancreatic duct runs the whole length of the gland from 

 left to right and conveys the pancreatic juice from vari- 

 ous little glands in the substance of the organ to the 

 duodenum, into which it empties along with the com- 

 mon bile duct by a common orifice. The arteries are 

 from the celiac axis and superior mesenteric, the veins 

 belong to the portal system, and the nerves come from 

 the solar plexus. 



Surgically the pancreas is of no special importance, 

 though acute pancreatitis does occasionally occur and 

 is a very serious condition and one hard to diagnose. 



The Spleen. The largest and most important of 

 the ductless glands is the spleen, an oblong, flattened 

 organ lying deep in the left hypochondriac region be- 

 tween the stomach and diaphragm above the descend- 

 ing colon, and corresponding to the ninth, tenth, and 

 eleventh ribs. It is soft, brittle, and very vascular. Its 

 artery is a branch of the celiac axis and the vein belongs 

 to the portal system. Its nerves are the pneumogas- 

 tric and branches from the solar plexus. The function 

 is not well understood but probably it is connected 

 with or related to the vascular system in some way. 

 Perhaps it manufactures blood corpuscles. 



The spleen varies more in size than any other organ. 

 Normally it cannot be felt, but in typhoid it usually 

 can. It is generally atrophied in old age and hyper- 

 trophied in almost all acute infectious diseases, especi- 

 ally in typhoid fever and malaria. In leukemia it is 

 often greatly enlarged. Sometimes in violent falls it 

 is ruptured and there is considerable hemorrhage. 



The Suprarenal Capsules. The other ductless glands, 

 the suprarenal capsules, yellowish triangular bodies, 

 are situated just above and in front of the kidneys. 

 Their function is important but not well understood. 

 Death, accompanied by great muscular weakness, follows 

 the removal of both, and when they are diseased, similar 

 weakness is observed and the skin becomes bronzed. 

 Injection of the extract of the suprarenals stimulates 



