36 ANATOMY. 



lower border ; there also comes into view the larger portion of the 

 anterior surface of a dilated part of the alimentary canal called the 

 stomach, s, and certain portions of the rest of the alimentary canal, 

 namely, most of the coiled foldings or convolutions of the small intes- 

 tine, b, surrounded on three sides by a part of the great intestine, c. 

 Supposing the thorax to be emptied, and the anterior half of the 

 diaphragm to be cut away, as in Fig. 15, then the liver, IV, is seen 

 occupying the right upper part of the abdomen, close to, and even 

 suspended from, the under surface of the diaphragm ; the end of the 

 gall-bladder, g, is here also plainly visible. Partly covered by the 

 liver, as shown by the dotted lines, is the stomach, s, with the lower 

 end of the gullet, o, opening into it above; at the left end of the 

 stomach, and attached to it, is a dark, purplish organ, m, named the 

 milt or spleen. To the right, the stomach, or dilated part of the ali- 

 mentary canal, curves downwards behind the transverse part of the 

 great intestine, co, and opens into the commencement of the small in- 

 testine, named the duodenum, d ; the succeeding part of the small in- 

 testine, named the jejunum, is here removed, and so is the lower part 

 named the ileum, except a short piece marked i ; this part opens into 

 the commencement of the large intestine, which is named the coecum, 

 c, from which a little worm-like tube, called the vermiform appendix, 

 proceeds. The coecum is continuous with the next part of the large 

 intestine, called the colon, which consists of four portions, named from 

 their directions, the ascending, transverse, and descending colons, co, 

 co, co, and the sigmoid, that is the S-shaped flexure, f, of the colon. 

 The remainder of the large intestine, r, the terminal portion of the 

 alimentary canal, is named the rectum, from its comparatively straight 

 course. If the liver, stomach, duodenum, and spleen be removed to- 

 gether from their position in the abdomen, as in Fig. 98, and if the 

 liver, I, and stomach, s, be then turned up, so as better to show the 

 duodenum, d, there will then be seen stretching across from the curve 

 of the duodenum on the right, to the spleen, m, on the left, a long 

 pinkish-white gland, very like a salivary gland, named the pancreas, b. 

 It is further shown in this figure that the liver and pancreas are 

 provided with ducts, which open into the duodenum. The spleen has 

 no duct ; neither have the supra-renal bodies. In Fig. 15 the pancreas 

 is concealed by the transverse colon and stomach. 



Besides the various above-named parts and their proper blood- 

 vessels, there also exist in the abdomen very numerous absorbents. 

 Those belonging to the small intestine, named the lacteals, serve, as 

 we shall hereafter see, a very special office, and empty themselves into 

 the commencement of the thoracic duct, which begins in the abdomen 

 (see Fig. 100). It remains to notice that the lower portions of the 

 right and left sympathetic nerves, and their branches to the neighbor- 

 ing viscera, are likewise contained in the abdominal and pelvic cavities. 



There are no special or separate compartments in the abdominal 

 cavity, as there are in the thorax ; but the whole is lined by a single 

 smooth, serous membrane, called the peritonaeum. This membrane is 

 also reflected on the stomach and intestines, reaching them from be- 

 hind, along their bloodvessels, and serving to support them by folds 



