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CHAPTER X. 
Plate XVIII. — the stomach, gall-bladder, &c. 
Fig. 1. a, the stomach; 6, the cardia; c, the pylorus. The gastric 
juice is a secretion derived from the inner membrane of the stom¬ 
ach, and digestion is principally performed by it. In the various 
orders of animated beings it differs, being adapted to the food on 
which they are accustomed to subsist. The food, when properly 
masticated, is dissolved by the gastric fluid, and converted into 
chyme ; so that most kinds of the ingesta lose their specific qualities; 
and the chemical changes to which they would otherwise be liable, 
as putridity and rancidity, &c. are thus prevented. 
In this plate, Zi, the liver is turned up, in order to show the gall¬ 
bladder which is attached to its concave surface ; d, the duodenum; 
e, part of the small intestines ; f the pancreas ; and g , the spleen. 
Fig. 2. Explains the several ducts and their communication with 
the duodenum; a, the gall-bladder; 6, the ductus cysticus; which 
uniting with, c, the ductus hepaticus , forms, d, the ductus communis ; 
which, after passing between the muscular and inner coats of the 
intestine, opens into it at e. f, the pancreatic duct. The bile is said 
to become more viscid, acrid, and bitter, from the thinner parts being 
absorbed during its retention in the gall-bladder. 
