104 



TOPOGRAPHICAL ANATOMY OF THE 



appears at first sight to be a single membrane is really composed of two 

 thin membranes closely adherent to each other; for at the greater 

 curvature of the stomach the omentum very obviously splits into two 

 sheets, each continued over one of the two surfaces of the stomach. 



Following the gastric line of attachment towards the right, it will 

 be found to be continued along the ventral surface of the pylorus and 

 obliquely across the left face of the beginning of the duodenum. 

 Thence it proceeds along the cranial surface of the great colon from 

 right to left, and for some 25 or 30 cm. along the small colon. A sharp 



Lesser omentum. 

 Diaphragm. 



Stomach 



Liver. 



Lig. gastrolienale 



Spleen. 



Omental bursa. 



Greater omentum. 



Fig. 47. — Diagram to illustrate the arrangement of the peritoneum in horizontal 

 section. The peritoneum is represented by the red lines. The position 

 of the epiploic foramen is indicated by an arrow. 



bend in a cranial direction brings the line of attachment to the base of 

 the spleen, where the omentum is continuous with the suspensory 

 ligament of that organ. From this point the attachment follows the 

 hilus of the spleen, from which the omentum proceeds to the greater 

 curvature of the stomach as the loose gastro-splenic ligament. This 

 brings the dissector back to the point from which he started, and serves 

 to show the continuity of the omentum. 



The omental bursa^ (bursa omentalis) is the cavity contained within 

 the greater omentum, and was opened when the omentum was incised. 

 Exploration of the bursa will show that it communicates by a large 



' Bursa [L.] ; ^vpaa (byrsa) [Gr.], the skin, a hide, a purse. 



