834 



THE STOMACH. 



anterior and posterior surfaces of the stomach, where they spread out from 

 one another, and most of them gradually disappear ; some, however, reach 

 as far as the pylorus. A similar set of fibres, noticed by Henle, and more 

 fully described by Pettigrew, proceed from the right side of the cardia and 

 spread over the front and back of the great cul-de-sac : these are in part 

 continuous with the circular layer. The oblique fibres are best seen from 

 the inside of the stomach, after removing the mucous membrane. In this, 

 as in the circular layer of fibres, Pettigrew believes the figure-of-8 arrange- 

 ment to prevail. (From unpublished Notes of Researches on the Muscular 

 Fibres of the Stomach, by James Pettigrew, M. D. ) 



Fig. 581. DIAGRAMMATIC VIEW IN PERSPECTIVE 

 OP A PORTION OP THE COATS OF THE STOMACH 

 AND DUODENUM, INCLUDING THE PYLORUS, f 



g, the alveolar surface of the stomachal mu- 

 cous membrane ; g', section of the mucous mem- 

 brane with the pyloric gastric glands ; v, the 

 villous surface of the mucous membrane of the 

 duodenum ; i, section of the same with the in- 

 testinal glands or crypts of Lieberkiihn ; pp, the 

 ridge of the pyloric valve, with a section of its 

 component parts ; mi, deep or circular layer of 

 muscular fibres : these are seen in the section to 

 form a part of the pyloric valve ; in e, external 

 or longitudinal layer of muscular fibres ; s, the serous covering. 



The areolar or submucous coat of the stomach is a distinct layer placed 

 between the muscular and mucous coats, and connected with both : it 

 consists essentially of a dense filamentous areolar tissue, in which occasional 

 fat-cells may be found ; and it is the seat of division and passage of the 

 larger branches of the blood-vessels. 



The internal or mucous coat is a smooth, soft, rather thick and pulpy 

 membrane, which has generally a somewhat pink hue owing to the blood in 

 its capillary vessels, but which, after it has been well washed, is of a greyish 

 white or pale straw colour. In some cases, however, it presents this pale 

 aspect without any previous washing. In infancy the vascular redness is 

 more marked, the surface having then a rosy hue, but it becomes paler in 

 childhood, and in aged persons is often of an ash-grey colour. During 

 digestion its vessels become congested, and when examined in that condition 

 it is always of a much brighter pink than at other times. 



After death a few hours often suffice to change its colour to a dirty brown tint, 

 mottled and streaked in some cases with dull red lines, corresponding with the course 

 of the veins. This alteration is owing to the exudation of the colouring matter of 

 the blood, and is especially met with in old subjects, in whom the mucous membrane 

 is always thin. In acute inflammation, or after the introduction of irritating sub- 

 stances or of strong acrid poisons, it becomes of a bright red, either all over or in 

 spots, patches or streaks of variable sizes. Corrosive poisons, the gastric juice, and 

 sometimes regurgitating bile, may stain it variously, black, brown, yellow, or green ; 

 and the effect of chronic inflammation is to leave the membrane of a slate-grey colour. 

 Independently of all these modifying circumstances connected with the stomach 

 itself, as was pointed out by Yelloly and others, the colour of the gastric mucous 

 surface is liable to be influenced by causes of a more general nature. Thus, it has 

 been found that in cases of obstructed venous circulation, as when death occurs from 

 hanging or from drowning, and also in certain diseases of the heart, the internal 

 surface of the stomach is reddened to a greater or less extent ; but the amount of 

 vascularity may vary from circumstances which are not well understood, and may be 

 found greatly increased in cases in which none of those now named exist. Trans, of 

 Med. Chir. Soc., vol. iv. p. 371. 



