THE COLON 



145 



Small intestinal worms 



harmful bacteria than the celebrated cherry-stone. 

 have been found within the appendix. 



The ilio-cecal valve consists of two folds of mucous membrane 

 with muscle fibers between the layers. They are placed at the end 



FIG. no. THE LARGE INTESTINE. 



The small intestine and its vessels are drawn to the right to show the sigmoid colon 

 and the rectum. The transverse colon is thrown upward. {Morris.) 



of the ilium where it opens into the colon, and project toward each 

 other, leaving only a slit-like passage. 



The colon begins at the ilio-cecal valve. The first part, or 

 ascending colon, passes upward in the right lumbar region. After 

 making a bend under the liver the right colic flexure (or hepatic 

 flexure), it becomes the transverse colon, which hangs in a loop across 

 the abdomen in front of the small intestine. Another bend occurs 

 under the spleen, the left colic flexure (or splenic flexure) ; thence 

 the descending colon passes downward in the left lumbar region to 

 the left iliac fossa. Here it makes an S-shaped or sigmoid bend 



