R UMI N ANTI A DIG EST I VE SYSTEM. 



373 



The ccecum is devoid of longitudinal bands, and terminally of transverse 

 furrows. Its blind extremity is blunt, rounded, and directed backwards, and it 

 floats free in the abdomen. The other extremity having received the insertion 

 of the ileum, is continuous with the colon, which likewise wants bands and 

 furrows. The colon soon becomes greatly constricted ; then, preserving about 

 the same diameter throughout, it is arranged in an irregularly elliptic coil 

 between the folds of the mesentery. 



Thus there is no distinct sejiaration between the great and floating colon as in 

 the horse. The total length of the large intestine in the ox, from the cpecum to 

 the rectum, is about 36 feet, but its capacity is much less than it is in the 

 horse. Apart from the question of measurement, these remarks will apply to 

 ruminants generally. 



Accessory Organs of Digestion. 

 The liver of the ox, situated in the right hypochondriac region, is very thick, 



Fig. 135. 



Posterior view of the liver of an Ox. a. Left lobe ; 6, Right lobe ; c, Spigelian lobe ; 



d, Quadrate lobe ; e, Superior border ; e', Anterior fissure ; /, Inferior border ; /', Notch 



for the umbilical vein ; ;;, Gall bladder ; h h h, Biliary tubes ; i, Cystic duct ; k, Ductus 



choledochus. 



and has two large lobes, right and left, with a Spigelian lobe, and a small quad- 

 rate lobe situated supero-posteriorly. It is provided with a pear-shaped gall 

 bladder attached above, and lying upon its posterior surface. The gall bladder 

 is furnished with three coats, serous, muscular, and mucous, and it is con- 

 tinuous with the biliary ducts. The cystic duct extends from the gall bladder 

 almost to the transverse fissure, where it joins the ductus choledochus ; in the 

 ox the latter enters the duodenum singly, in advance of the pancreatic duct, 

 being guarded at its orifice by a valve-like doubling of the mucous membrane. 



