THE DIGESTION OF FOOD 



121 



current by a roundabout way, that is, into the lacteals, 

 and thence into the other lymphatics and the thoracic duct. 



The peptones and sugar are also carried into the main 

 blood current in a roundabout way. They are taken up 

 by the tiny blood vessels 

 of the villi and then car- 

 ried along the portal vein 

 to the liver, and are there 

 acted upon before they 

 reach the general blood 

 stream. (See Portal Cir- 

 ctilation. Sec. 210.) 



171. The Large Intes- 

 tine. The large intestine, 

 which is about five feet 

 long, first passes up the 

 right side of the abdomen, 

 then across under the liver 

 and stomach, and, lastly, 

 descends on the left side 

 of the abdomen. It then 

 bends sharply and ends in 

 the rectum in the middle 

 line of the body (Fig. 73). 



Most of the food material which is of any use to the body 

 has been absorbed in the small intestine. The large intes- 

 tine absorbs a good deal of the remainder, especially water. 



This part of the digestive canal also serves as a kind of 

 temporary storehouse for indigestible or waste materials 

 which are to be cast out of the body. 1 



FIG. 79. The Vermiform Appendix. 



A, a portion of -the colon laid open to show 

 the valve between the large and small 

 intestine; B, the caecum. 



1 The vermiform appendix, inflammation of which is known as appendi- 

 citis t is a curious offshoot from the large intestine near the point where it 



