828 



THE PERITONEUM. 



The sac of the omentum may be laid open by means of an incision a little 



Fig. 579. 



Fig. 579, A. DIAGRAMMATIC OUTLINE OP A 

 SUPPOSED SECTION OP THE BODY, SHOWING 

 THE INFLECTIONS OF THE PERITONEUM IN 

 THE FEMALE. 



The upper part of the section is a little to 

 the right of the mesial plane of the body, 

 through the quadrate and Spigelian lobes of 

 the liver ; below it is supposed to be mesial : 

 I c, placed above the diaphragm opposite to 

 Ihe coronary ligament of the liver ; Z, the 

 liver ; I', lobe of Spigel ; s, stomach. ; c, 

 transverse colon ; i, the small intestine ; 

 p a, pancreas ; a, the aorta ; d, the duode- 

 num ; v, urinary bladder ; u, uterus ; r, 

 rectum ; t j , its middle part opened ; v a, 

 vagina; p, p, the parietal peritoneum lining 

 the front and back of the abdominal cavity ; 

 the line representing the inflections of the 

 greater sac of the peritoneum will be traced 

 from the neighbourhood of I c, where it 

 passes on the upper surface of the liver over 

 the upper and lower surfaces of that organ, 

 in the front of g h, the gastro-hepatic omen- 

 tum, over the front of the stomach, down 

 to 0', the outer layer of the great omentum, 

 whence it passes back to the vicinity of 

 the pancreas, and re-descends as the upper 

 layer of the transverse meso-colon ; after 

 enclosing the colon it returns on the lower 

 surface of the transverse meso-colon, m c, to 

 the root of the mesentery, m ; it now forms 

 the mesentery and encloses the small in- 

 testine, returning to the duodenum and 

 posterior wall of the abdomen, whence it 

 passes over the rectum, r, descends into the 

 recto-vaginal pouch, u\ covers the back 

 and front of the uterus and the bladder 

 partially and regains the anterior abdominal 

 wall above the pubes ; as connected with 

 the lesser sac of the peritoneum, w, marks 

 the position of the foramen of Winslow as if 

 seen in perspective beyond the section ; the 

 lesser sac with the sac of the omentum is 

 shaded with horizontal lines, and is marked 

 o o : round this space the line of the peri- 

 toneum may be traced from the diaphragm 

 over the lobe of Spigel, to the back of the 

 gastro-hepatic omentum, thence behind the 

 stomach and down into the sac of the omen- 

 tum ; it then ascends to the pancreas, 

 which it covers, and thence reaches again, 

 the diaphragm. 



B, is a sketch of part of a section similar 

 to that of A, but showing the different view 

 frequently taken, according to which the 

 two layers of the meso-colon, after enclosing 

 the colon, descend to form the posterior pair 

 of the layers of the great omentum. 



below the great curvature of the 

 stomach. It will then be seen that the 

 inner wall of this sac, having invested 



