370 PRACTICAL ANATOMY. 



the gastro-hepatic ornentum, which includes the hepatic 

 vessels and nerves. On reaching the superior curvature 

 of the stomach again they separate, the anterior leaflet 

 passing in front, the posterior behind the stomach, which 

 they invest, the two leaflets again meeting at the greater 

 curvature. They then pass down together for from six to 

 twelve inches, hanging like an apron in front of the intes- 

 tines ; together they make an abrupt bend upward, the an- 

 terior layer becoming posterior, the posterior leaflet an- 

 terior, and they reach the anterior portion of the transverse 

 colon, where they again separate, the posterior leaflet 

 passing over the transverse colon and the anterior leaflet 

 beneath it. They invest the colon and again meet along 

 its posterior surface, and together proceed to the posterior 

 wall of the abdomen, forming the meso-colon. Now the 

 two layers separate ; the posterior leaflet, which became 

 by the ascent of the apron (or great omentum) the 

 superior layer, runs up along the posterior abdominal 

 wall, over the anterior surface of the duodenum and pan- 

 creas, and joins the leaflet whence it started, at the under 

 surface of the diaphragm, and marked in the diagram 2. 

 The anterior leaflet (now the lower leaflet of the meso- 

 colon) passes down to the superior mesenteric vessels, 

 and upon these to the small intestine, which it surrounds 

 or invests and then passes back to the spine, forming the 

 mesentery. It runs along the spine for a short distance 

 and is reflected over the rectum and for some distance 

 along its anterior wall ; thence to the posterior surface 

 of the upper part of the vagina and the posterior surface 

 of the uterus, forming a pouch called Douglas's cul-de- 

 sac ; thence over the fundus uteri, along its anterior 

 surface to the bladder, investing its upper portion 

 only, and is then reflected along the anterior wall of 

 the abdomen to the point of starting, and marked 1 in 



