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Home  »  Anatomy of the Human Body  »  pages 1105

Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.

pages 1105

and transverse portions of the large intestine. Until the fifth month the cecal diverticulum has a uniform caliber, but from this time onward its distal part remains rudimentary and forms the vermiform process, while its proximal part expands to form the cecum. Changes also take place in the shape and position of the stomach. Its dorsal part or greater curvature, to which the dorsal mesogastrium is attached, grows much more rapidly than its ventral part or lesser curvature to which the ventral mesogastrium is fixed. Further, the greater curvature is carried downward and to the left, so that the right surface of the stomach is now directed backward and the left surface forward (Fig. 986), a change in position which explains why the left vagus nerve is found on the front, and the right vagus on the back of the stomach. The dorsal mesogastrium being attached to the greater curvature must necessarily follow its movements, and hence it becomes greatly elongated and drawn lateralward and ventralward from the vertebral column, and, as in the case of the stomach, the right surfaces of both the dorsal and ventral