DIGESTIVE ORGANS.
The œsophagus is a slightly flexuous canal, inclining to the left in the neck, to the right in the upper part of the thorax; it commences at the termination of the pharynx, which is a musculo-membranous sac, about four inches in length, and communicating with the cavity of the nose and mouth; the œsophagus then passes behind the arch of the aorta to the œsophagal opening in the diaphragm, where it enters the abdomen, and terminates into the stomach.
The stomach in man is an oblong, membranous bag, placed obliquely across the abdomen and just below the diaphragm; its average capacity in the adult is about one quart; it has two openings, one towards the heart called the cardiac orifice, which receives the food from the œsophagus, and the other at the right or small end of the stomach, called the pyloric orifice, for the transmission of food to the small intestines.
The small intestines, about twenty-five feet in length, are coiled in various directions, and terminate into the large intestine, called the colon, which is about five feet in length, and resembles in appearance a long sac divided into numerous pouches.
The pancreas is a long narrow gland, situated partly behind the right side of the stomach, and within the first curve of the small intestine.
The liver is the largest gland in the body; it is situated on the right side, below, and in contact with the diaphragm, and is divided into several lobes. At its lower side is the gall bladder, into which the bile is poured after being secreted. Its duct opens into a duct leading direct from the liver, and forms with it the common bile duct, through which the bile is poured into the small intestine, at the same point with the duct from the pancreas, until, at length, it is carried with the food into the larger intestine or colon, from whence it is excreted from the system, through the rectum.