CHAPTER VIII. 



STOMACH DIGESTION. 



The general surface of the stomach is covered by a single 

 layer of cylindrical epithelial cells which also line the orifices 

 of the numerous glands with which the mucous membrane is 

 thickly studded. This single layer of cylindrical cells is marked 

 off from the stratified squamous cells lining the oesophagus by a 

 sharp line of demarcation. The glands of the stomach are tubes 

 of which the orifices are conical depressions which divide into 

 two or three tubular prolongations. The outlet or orifice is cov- 



FIG. 68. 



Diagram of a section of the Wall of the Stomach. a. Orifices of glands with cylindri- 

 cal epithelium, b. Fundus of glands with spherical and oval epithelium, c. Muscularls 

 mucosse. d. Submucous tissue containing blood vessels, etc. e. Circular, (/) oblique, 

 and (g) longitudinal muscle coats, h. Serous membrane. 



ered by the common cylindrical epithelium of the surface of the 

 stomach, and the fundus is filled with specific granular cells. 

 The glands dip down into the delicate submucous tissue, the 

 branching tubes lying parallel and exceedingly close together. 

 Between them an injection demonstrates a dense network of 

 capillary vessels which surrounds the tube and closely invests 

 the delicate basement membrane which forms the boundary 



152 



