The Stomach and Spleen. 119 ■ 



(c) The hepatic artery (a. hepatica), the continuation of the 

 coeliac, passes forward and to the right, giving off' small 

 branches to the pancreas. Its first main branch is the 

 gastroduodenal artery (a. gastroduodenalis) . The latter is 

 distributed chiefly to the first portion of the intestine.as the 

 superior pancreaticoduodenal artery (a. pancreaticoduoden- 

 alis superior), but a small recurrent branch, the right gas-, 

 troepiploic artery (a. gastroepiploica dextra), traverses the 

 greater omentum to the greater curvature where it ana- 

 astomoses with the left gastroepiploic artery. 

 After giving off the gastroduodenal artery, the hepatic enters 

 the lesser omentum on its way to the liver. A small branch, 

 the right gastric artery (a. gastrica dextra) passes to the 

 pylorus and anastomoses across the lesser curvature with a 

 branch of the left gastric artery. 



The veins of the stomach and spleen are tributaries of the portal 

 vein. Accompanying the branches of the splenic artery are the 

 tributaries of the splenic vein (v. lienalis), including the left 

 gastroepiploic vein. Accompanying the branches of the left gastric 

 artery are the tributaries of the coronary vein (v. coronaria 

 ventriculi). The splenic and coronary veins enter the left wall of 

 the portal vein through a short common trunk. 



On the right side of the stomach the superior pancreaticoduo- 

 denal vein is united with the right gastroepiploic vein to form a 

 short trunk, the gastroduodenal vein (v. gastroduodenalis), which 

 enters the right wall of the portal vein. The left gastroepiploic 

 vein receives tributaries from the dorsal surface of the pyloric 

 antrum. 



The abdominal portion of the tenth cranial, or vagus nerve 

 (n. vagus) may.be traced from the oesophagus to the surface 

 of the stomach. The left cord appears on the left wall of 

 the oesophagus; crossing the ventral surface of the latter 

 obliquely to the right, it ramifies on the ventral portion of 

 the lesser curvature. The right cord passes backward in a 

 similar manner on the dorsal surface of the oesophagus. 



4. Cut across the stomach at the pyloric antrum. Divide the 

 oesophagus, and remove the stomach from the body. Open the organ 

 by means of an incision extending around the greater curvature to the 

 oesophagus. 



On the cut end of the pyloric antrum the mucous and muscular 

 tunics (cf. Fig. 15) may be distinguished and separated from one another 

 by dividing the loose tissue of the tela submucosa. On the surface of 

 the mucous tunic may be seen the gastric areas (areae gastricae), formed 

 by the longitudinal folds and imperfect transverse ridges which tend to 

 connect them. They are well marked only in the contracted condition 

 of the stomach. The mucous tunic of the stomach is sharply differen- 

 tiated from that of the oesophagus. 



