Page:Structure and functions of the body; a hand-book of anatomy and physiology for nurses and others desiring a practical knowledge of the subject (IA structurefunctio00fiskrich).pdf/159

 and jaundice results. In this condition operation is dangerous, as the time of coagulation of the blood, normally five minutes or less, is much delayed. Gall-stones, formed largely of bile pigments and cholesterin, sometimes collect in the gall-bladder, where they cause irritation and may give rise to empyema of the gall-bladder. The stones vary in size from a pea to a hen's egg and when small may be very numerous.

—The pancreas, spleen, gall-bladder, etc., showing their relations. (After Sobotta.)

The Pancreas.—Another accessory organ of digestion is the pancreas, the abdominal salivary gland, as it is sometimes called on account of its close resemblance to the parotid gland. This is a grayish-white racemose gland, six and a half inches long by one and a half inches wide and one inch thick, lying behind the stomach on a level with the first and second lumbar vertebræ and shaped like a pistol with its handle toward the right. In an emaciated person it can be felt. The