THE PERITONEUM. 269 



those above enumerated, which it would be very difficult to 

 explain, and which are well understood bj those who are 

 practised in feeling the pulse. 



THE ABDOMEN AXD ITS CONTENTS. 



PLATE VIII. Fig 5, and PLATE IX. Figs. ] and 2. 



Having given a brief account of the contents of the chest, 

 or rather those parts most essential to the general reader, 

 we now descend to the abdominal viscera. The heart and 

 lungs may be considered the moving powers of the animal 

 system, which, however, require the materials to keep up 

 and supply that motion. The organ which prepares and 

 distributes that stimulus is the stomach, and is lodged in 

 tlie higher region of the belly, while the intestines which 

 carry off the vv^aste are situated in the middle and lower 

 portion of the abdominal cavity. 



The abdomen, or belly, is formed chiefly of soft parts, 

 which principally consist of the four pair of abdominal 

 muscles which mainly constitute its broad superficies below 

 and laterally. In its interior part, the most important 

 viscera are situated, viz., the stomach and liver. It is 

 bounded by the false ribs, and in front by the diaphragm ; 

 its posterior compartment is bounded by the pelvis, and 

 above by the dorsal and lumber vertebrae and muscles 

 belonging to the loins. 



The abdominal viscera of the horse differ from those of 

 man chiefly in the shape and comparative size of the 

 stomach, and the intestine called the colon ; their general 

 relative situation is much the same in both. 



THE PERITONEUM. 

 The peritoneum is the membrane that lines the cavity of 



