THE ABDOMEN, INTERIOR. 495 



margin of the liver, on the left by the margin of the costal 

 cartilages, and below by the upper horizontal line. See 

 page 43 5. 



Behind, the posterior surface of the stomach helps to 

 form part of the anterior wall of the cavity of the great 

 omentum (lesser peritoneum). It lies in front of the pan- 

 creas, great vessels, crura of diaphragm, solar plexus, from 

 all of which it is separated by the anterior layer of the 

 transverse mesocolon, also in front of the spleen and the 

 gastrosplenic omentum, the splenic artery, left kidney and 

 suprarenal body. Above, are the liver, gastrohepatic 

 omentum, diaphragm, and oesophagus. Below, the gastro- 

 colic or greater omentum, transverse colon and its meso- 

 colon. 



The Surface Area of the Stomach Projection. The stomach 

 being one of the most movable organs by reason of its loose 

 peritoneal connections and from the varying states of dis- 

 tention or emptiness, it follows that to attempt to give any 

 fixed outlines of its position is almost useless. The cardiac 

 end is the only point that can be fixed with any degree of 

 exactness. This lies behind the seventh costal cartilage, 

 one inch to the left of the sternum. The fundus rises up 

 behind and above the location of the apex of the heart, to 

 the level of the sixth costochondral articulation. 



The pylorus is the most uncertain portion ; usually it is 

 found one inch to the right of the median line and two inches 

 below the ensiform. 



The upper border will be indicated by a short curve, with 

 concavity upward, connecting the cardiac and pyloric ori- 

 fices. The greater curvature is drawn upward from the 

 cardia to the point reached by the fundus, then with a wide 

 curve is drawn outward, to the left and downward, then to 

 the right and after crossing the middle line midway between 



