THE INTESTINES. 



48V 



The Large or Double Colon (Figs. 282, 283, 284).— This intestine begins 

 at the caecum, and terminates by suddenly contracting at the origin of the small 

 colon. 



Length — Capacity. — It is from about 10 to 18 feet in length, and has a 

 medium capacity equal to 18 gallons. 



Form — General arrangement. — Removed from the abdominal cavity, and 

 extended on a table or on the ground, this portion of the intestine appears as 

 a voluminous canal, offering a succession of dilatations and contractions ; its 

 surface being traversed by longitudinal b-mds, and sacculated and furrowed 

 transversely for a great part of its extent, exactly like the Ciocum. It is also 

 doubled in such a manner as to form a loop, the two branches of which are of 

 equal length, and are held together by the peritoneum, which is carried from 



Fiff. 284. 



THE COLON OF THE HORSE. 



1, First portion ascending to form the supra-sternal flexure ; 2, second portion descending to form 

 the pelvic flexure, 7 ; 3, 6, longitudinal muscular bands ; 4, point of the caecum, 5 ; 8, duodenum ; 

 9, small intestine. 



one to the other ; so that the terminal extremity of the large colon returns 

 towards the point of its origin. 



But this colic flexure, owing to its length, could not be contained m the 

 abdomen ; and it is therefore doubled in its turn from above to below, and from 

 right to left (at the points f, f, in Fig. 283), forming curvatures which will be 

 noticed presently. From this circumstance, it results that the large colon, 

 studied in the abdominal cavity, is divided into four portions lying beside each 

 other in pairs ; so that a transverse section of that cavity, made in front of the 

 base of the caecum, would give for this intestine the results indicated in Fig. 285. 



Course and Relations. — In following the course of the large colon from its 

 origin to its termination, in order to study its fom' portions in their normal 

 relations, the following is observed : — 



Commencing from the ai'ch or crook of the cfecum, the colon is directed 

 forwards, above the middle portion of that reservoir, which it follows to its point. 

 Arrived at the posterior face of the diaphragm at its most declivitous part, it bends 

 do^\^lwards and to the left, forming its first sternal ox supra-sternal flexure, because 



