ON THE STOMACH IN MAN AND THE ANTHROPOID APE. 



35 



Two sets of measurements were made in each case, viz. : (1) along the greater curvature, 

 from the entrance of the oesophagus over the cardiac sac to the commencement of the 

 gastric tube, and again from the latter point to the pylorus ; (2) along the long axis of 

 the stomach from the summit of the fundus to the pylorus — measuring the cardiac sac 

 and gastric tube separately. In dealing with these figures it is necessary to resolve 

 them into percentages, because absolute measurements give no information on which a 

 comparison could be established, seeing that the differences in the size of the stomach 

 in different individuals is so great. In the following table, in which the results obtained 

 from the seven best-marked specimens in my possession are given, it should be noted 

 that the stomachs are arranged from above downwards in an order corresponding to 

 the degree to which the emptying process has taken place. The first of the series 

 (XIII. B ) is therefore the one in which this process has made least progress. 



No. of Specimen 

 and Sex. 



Long Axis of Stomach. 



Greater Curvature of Stomach. 



Percentage formed 



by the 



Cardiac Sac. 



Percentage formed 



by the 



Gastric Tube. 



Percentage formed 



by the 



Cardiac Sac. 



Percentage formed 



by the 



Gastric Tube. 



XIII. B ? 



I. B 6 

 VIII. B (?) 



II. B ? 



VI. B J 

 III. B 6 

 XIV. B (?) 



51 



46-8 



41-3 



47-2 



45" 



40-5 



41 



49 



53-2 



58-7 



52-8 



55- 



59-5 



59 



60-5 

 52 



48-8 



56 



55 



53 



45-8 



39-5 



48 



51-4 



44 



45 



47 



54-2 



It is worthy of note that on the anterior and posterior surfaces of the contracted 

 gastric tube the ligaments of Helvetius stand out much more distinctly than in those 

 cases in which this part of the stomach is more or less expanded. This is apparently 

 not due to contraction, but to the closer approximation of the fibres which compose them. 



When all the contents of the stomach are discharged, the sharp distinction between 

 the cardiac sac and the gastric tube may become in a measure lost through the strong 

 contraction of the walls of the former, and perhaps a slight degree of relaxation of the 

 latter. The stomach depicted in fig. 4 shows this condition. It was absolutely empty : 

 indeed, no food had entered for some time before death, owing to the occlusion of the 

 oesophagus through the pressure of a tumour. In other cases the collapsed cardiac sac 

 may show a certain amount of infolding of its walls, due to the encroachment upon it of 

 neighbouring viscera. The account given by Birmingham (2) of the empty stomach 

 was not far from the truth, and he erred chiefly in failing to distinguish between the 

 emptying and the empty stomach. It would, however, appear to be the rule, when the 

 digestive process has come to an end, and all the gastric contents have been expelled 

 into the intestine, for the gastric tube to become partially relaxed, to widen out some- 

 what, and to lose something of its firm and hard consistence. 



