The Peritoneum (Peri, Around; Teinein, To Stretch) envelops the intestinal canal, attaches it to the vertebral column by a double membranous fold, called the mesentery, and partially covers it by a floating fold or epiploon. Imagine a membrane doubled back so as to form a long broad fold. At the bottom of and within this fold lies the intestine, which we may suppose to be stretched in a straight line. The membrane adheres closely to three-quarters of the surface of the intestine, and then folds back on itself. The two leaves of this peritoneal covering are united by cellular tissue, which permits their separation by distension of the intestines. If now we pucker the fold at its root, the border which contains the intestine will form numerous sinuosities, and this is really the arrangement of the intestinal convolutions. In the region of the colon; the fold formed by the peritoneum is very much broader, the intestine lies in the middle of its breadth, and the rest falls like a veil in front of the intestinal mass, and rises to the stomach, which it partially covers as well as the liver and spleen. This moving veil is the epiploon (epi, upon; pleo, I float). That part of the fold behind the intestine fastens itself to the front of the vertebral column, and takes the name of mesentery (mesos, middle, and enteron, intestine).