C 45 3 
II. On the Structure and Uses of the Spleen. By Everard 
Home, Esq. F. R. S. 
Read November 2 6, 1807. 
In bringing forward a fact of so much importance, as a com- 
munication between the cardiac portion of the stomach and the 
circulation of the blood, through the medium of the spleen, 
I shall not take up the time of the Society by offering any 
preliminary observations, but state the circumstances which 
led to the discovery, and the experiments by which the 
different facts have been ascertained. 
During the investigation of the functions of the stomach, 
(in which I have been lately engaged,) it was found that 
while digestion is going on, there is a separation between the 
cardiac and pyloric portions, either by means of a permanent 
or muscular contraction. This fact placed the process of 
digestion in a new light, and led me to consider in what way 
the quantities of different liquors, which are so often taken 
into the stomach, can be prevented from being mixed with 
the half digested food, and interfering with the formation of 
chyle. 
Pursuing this enquiry, I found that the fluids are principally 
contained in the cardiac portion, and the food that has reached 
the pyloric portion is usually of one uniform consistence, so 
that the fluids beyond what are necessary for digestion would 
appear to be carried out of the stomach, without ever reaching 
