alimentary

[Eng. aliment; -ary. In Fr. aliment a ire Port. & Ital. aliment a rio; from Lat. a limen tar i us.] A. Ordinary Language: 1. Pertaining to aliment, as the "alimentary canal." (See B., I.) 2. Furnishing aliment. "Of alimentary roots, some are pulpy and very nutritious; as turnips and carrots. These have a fattening quality."-Arbuthnot: Aliments. B. Technically: I. Physiology: 1. Alimentary Canal: The great tube or duct by which the food is conveyed through the body. including the alimentary canal. "- Owen: Mammal i a (1859), p. 57. 2. Alimentary Compartment: The lower part of the pharynx, which is dilatable and contractile. It affords a pa age for the food from the mouth to the œsophagus. ( Todd & Bowman: Physiol . Anat ., vol. ii., 185.) 3. Alimentary Mucous Membrane: The membrane which lines the interior of the long and tortuous pa age by which food taken into the mouth makes its way through the body. The ducts of the mucous, as well as some other glands, open into it. (Todd & Bowman: Physiol. Anat ., vol. ii., 162.) 4. Alimentary Tube : The pa age by which the food makes way through the body from the mouth downwards. ( Ibid . , p. 185.) II. Law. Alimentary Law: The law by which parents are held responsible for the alimentation of their children. In Scotch Law it is called obligation of aliment.