ABDOMINAL CAVITY 



465 



Hyoid bone 



Thyreoid car- 

 tilage 



Cricoid cartilage 



Trachea 



(Esophagus 



Aortic arch 



Descending aorta 



part of the alimentary canal, and it constitutes the receptacle 

 for the food after it has been masticated and swallowed. The 

 gullet or oesophagus opens into 

 the stomach above and to the 

 left, whilst below and to the 

 right the stomach becomes 

 continuous with the duodenum 

 or first part of the small intestine. 

 The form and the position of 

 the organ within the abdomen 

 are greatly influenced not only 

 by the amount of food it con- 

 tains but also by the empty or 

 distended condition of the other 

 hollow viscera in its vicinity. It 

 is convenient to describe it as 

 it appears when moderately 

 distended. It then assumes a 

 pyriform shape and is strongly 

 curved upon itself. It is cus- 

 tomary to recognise in connec- 

 tion with the stomach: (i) a 

 blunt left extremity or fundus; 



(2) a narrow right 

 extremity or pylorus ; 



(3) tWO Orifices, a * 2th thoracic vertebra. 



cardiac and a pyloric ; 



(4) two surfaces, a 

 superior and an inferior ; and 



(5) two borders or curvatures, 

 a greater and a lesser. 



The fundus, or left, [or cardiac 

 end, is full and rounded, and 

 forms a marked bulging directed 

 upwards and backwards. It 

 occupies the back part of the 

 left cupola of the diaphragm, 

 from which it is separated in 

 part by the spleen and the 

 liver. To the right of the fun- 

 dus and about two inches below its summit is the oesophageal 

 or cardiac orifice. This is placed on the upper part or com- 



VOL. i 30 



Thoracic duct 



Duodenum 



FIG. 178. The (Esophagus, 

 Stomach, and Duodenum. 



