Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/416

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ALI FERROUGH BEY.
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ALIMENTARY SYSTEM.

ALI FERROUGH BEY, li'lo fer'io ba (1865 — ). JMinisler Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extra- ordinary of Tnrkey to the United States. He was born at Constantinople, and has been succes- Bively secretary of embassy at Paris, London, and Bucharest, and councilor of embassy at St. Petersburg. He has published Public and Pri- vate International Law, and histories of Arabia and Turkey. He was recalled from his post at W'asliington in I'JOl.

ALIGARH, a'le-giir'. The capital of the dis- ti'ict of the saine name, in the North-West Prov- inces of India, the native name of which, Koil, has been replaced by that of the adjoining fort, famous for its commanding situation and historic associations. The fort, at an altitude of 740 feet, stands in lat. 27° 56' N., long. 78° 8' E., 47 miles north of Agra and 74 miles south of Del- hi (Map: India, C 3). Its capture from the IMahrattas in ISO."? by General Lake assured Brit- ish supremacy in the Upper Doab, and it was tile scene of exciting incidents during the mutiny of .18.57. The town on the railway route from Calcutta to Peshawar is a thriving municipalitv, with a population in 1891 of 61,48.5; 1901, 70,127. Aligarh is the seat of the Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College, which is connetted with the University of Allahabad.

ALIGN'MENT. A term used in military tactics, equivalent to "in line." Thus, the align- ment of a battalion is effected when the men are drawn up in line; the alignment of a camp is a rectilinear arrangement of the tents, accord- ing to some prearranged plan.

ALIMA, a-le'm.i. A tributary of the lower Congo, rising in French Congo, and after a short course westward emptying at Ibaka (Map: Congo Free State, C 3 ) . In its lower course it is navigable for light vessels. It was discovered by Brazza in 1878, and thoroughly explored by Bailey in, 1883.

AL'IMEN'TARY SYS'TEM (from Lat. alimentum, food). In mammalia, that portion of the digestive apparatus through which the food passes from the time of its entrance until its exit from the l)ody. It is lined by a mucous membrane, whieli extends from the lips to the anus, being modified in each region. (See Mucous Memuhane.) The alimentary canal begins at the mouth, and is continued into the space called the pharynx, which communicates with the nostrils above, and the gullet or oesophagus below, and with the mouth in front. The phar- ynx is surrounded by three muscles, the constric- tors, which grasp the food, and force it into the next portion of the alimentary canal, the cesoph- agus. This is a tube composed of an outer layer of longitudinal muscular fibres, and an inner of circular, which extend down to and spread out upon the stomach. These fibres, by a series of peristaltic contractions, carry the morsel of food along into the stomach. In vomiting, there is a reversal of these actions, which ruminating animals can accomplish at will. The oesophagus passes through an opening in the dinphragm, and joins the stomach, which is a poucli curved with the concavity upward, expanded into a cul de sac on the left side (the cardiac extrem- ity), and gradually narrowed to the right or pyloric end. It consists of muscular fibres con- tinuous with those of the oesophagus, which become thicker toward the pylorus. Its external Ton^i surfaces are covered by peritoneum, and its thick, -soft mucous lining, when the stomacli is empty, lies in folds. Between the muscular and mucous layers is a fibrous layer, in which the blood- vessels lie before they pass into the mucous layer. (See Stomach.) At its pyloric or right e.x- tremity the stomach communicates with the small intestine, which is about 22 feet in length, be- coming gradually narrower toward its lower end, and ar- ranged in convolu- tions, which occupy the middle portion of the abdominal cavity, and are kept in position by the mesentery, which at- taches them to the posterior wall of the abdomen.

The small intes- tine is subdivided into three parts. The first ten inches from the stomach consti- tute the duodenum. Into it open the duct of the pancreas and the common bile duct. Of the remain- ing portion, the jeju- iimii includes about two-fifths and ileum

ALIMENTARY TRACT IN MAN.

three-fifths. The differences between these last two consist in modifications of their internal structure. The tube consists of three layers and the whole is surrounded by peri- toneum. See Intestine.

The ileum ends at the right iliac region in the large intestine, which is from five to six feet in length. It begins at the pouch called the blind gut or cul de sac { see C.ECUJI ) , which has a small, worm-like appendage (appendix vermifor- mis); a double valve guards the opening of the small into the large intestine. The colon passes upward on the right side to below the liver ( ascending colon ) , then crosses from the right hypochondrium aci'oss the upper umbilical to the left hypochondrium (transverse colon), then descends to the left iliac fossa (descending colon ) , when it bends like an S ( sigmoid flex- ure), and then joins the rectum at the left margin of the true pelvis. The colon is distin- guished by its pouched or sacculated appearance and the presence of an exterior of tliree flat bands of longitudinal muscular fibres. The peritoneum covers it only in parts. ( See Colon. ) The rectum is not sacculated, but its muscular coat becomes much thicker; at its lower end the longitudinal muscular fibres sto]), but the circular fibres become greatly increased, forming the internal sphincter muscle. (See Anus.) The rectum is not straight, but takes a curved course.

The alimentary canal thus consists of a continuous pa.ssage lined by mucous membrane, which rests on a fibrous and muscular basement. Its length is generally about five or six times the length of the body, or, in other words, about Fundus of Urinary bladder