Sections: Prologue | Before Lewis & Clark | Lewis & Clark | After Lewis & Clark When Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark into the West, he patterned their mission on the methods of Enlightenment science: to observe, collect, document, and classify.
Partially digested food, or chyme, from the stomach is mixed with bile from the liver and pancreatic juice from the pancreas to complete its digestion in the duodenum. The jejunum is the middle section of the small intestine that serves as the primary site of nutrient absorption. It measures around 3 feet in length. The ileum is the final section of the small intestine that empties into the large intestine via the ileocecal sphincter.
The small intestine (small bowel) varies in length between 10 and 28 feet, and is divided into three main sections: 1. The duodenum is a relatively short section of the small intestine, measuring about 10 to 12 inchesl. It links the stomach to the rest of the small intestine. 2. The jejunum is the largest section, because its many folds give it increased surface area for absorbing nutrients.