Alimentary Canal

Alimentary Canal, the passage the food traverses from its entrance at the mouth to its final discharge as refuse material of no further service in the animal economy. It is lined throughout by mucous membrane, and comprises, in turn, the mouth, fauces, pharynx, aesophagus or gullet, stomach, small intestine (consisting of duodenum, jejunum and ileum), and large intestine (which includes the caecum, colon, sigmoid flexure, and rectum), and terminates at the anus. The total length of the digestive tube in man is about thirty feet.