Structurally the wall of the stomach is made up of four layers of tissue. These are

Structurally the wall of the stomach is made up of four layers of tissue. These are

1. An outer covering of the serous membrane (the peritoneum)

2. A muscle layer which intern is made up of three layers of visceral muscle fibres namely longitudinal, circular and oblique.

3. A sub mucous layer consisting of loose areolar tissue carrying blood vessels, lymphatics and nerves.

4. The mucous membrane constituting the inner most layers is thick and smooth having a velvety surface when the stomach is full. When the stom­ach is empty the mucous membrane is thrown into a number of irregular folds or rugae. These folds open up at the entry of the food and allow the stomach to expand to accommodate a large quantity of food.