ORGANS OF DIGESTION. 117 
cavity, near the iliac bone. The intestine is supported by 
the folds of the peritoneum known as the mesenteries. 
The large intestine consists of the cecum, colon, and 
rectum. The cecum is the blind conical projection at the 
Fic. 61. Transverse Section oF Fic. 62.  Cross-SecTION OF THE 
THE CAT. Carpiac END oF THE STOMACH. 
i, Sections of the intestine; d, fas 
duodenum; a, aorta; pan, pan-  cav, Cavity of the stomach; ex, 
creas; pa, pancreas Aselli; spl, external muscular coat; i, in- 
spleen; sp, spinous process of ternal muscular coat; mm, mu- 
the lumbar vertebra; tr, trans- cous coat; mm, muscularis 
verse process; v, post-cava or mucose; s, submucous or are- 
inferior vena cava; om, greater olar coat; se, serous or peri- 
omentum; the broken line is the toneal coat. 
peritoneum. 
beginning of the large intestine. It is only one or two 
centimeters long. There is no vermiform appendix in the 
cat. The ileum opens into the large intestine at the junc- 
tion of the cecum and colon. An annular fold of mucous 
membrane, strengthened by a sphincter muscle, forms the 
ileoczecal valve, which retains the food in the small intestine 
until the nutriment is absorbed (Fig. 60). 
The colon, extending from the cecum to the rectum, is 
composed of the ascending, transverse, and descending 
parts. The ascending colon lies on the right side; the trans- 
