Nutrition and the Digestive System 405
LABORATORY
The Digestive System continued
EXERCISE:2
4
1 3
Urogenital opening Umbilical cord5
(^) ®
Learning
Cengage ©
Figure 16- 17 Illustration of cuts to dissect the fetal pig. Follow the dotted lines.
layer of abdominal muscle. The very thin
transparent innermost layer is the parietal
peritoneum, which lines the inside of the wall
of the peritoneal cavity. A similar tis-sue, the
visceral peritoneum, covers the or-gans of the
cavity. The parietal and visceral peritoneum
are connected by thin sheets of
tissue called the mesentery. Several mesen-
teries suspend and support visceral organs and
allow the passage of blood vessels and nerves
to the organs.^
- Now observe the major organs of the ab-
dominal cavity. Note the diaphragm muscle
that lies directly above the large brown liver.