EARLY DIVISION OF SPLANCHNOCOELIC COELOM 



865 



Fig. 363 — (Continued) 



See legend on p. 864. 



body wall, where it fuses with the somatopleure from the body wall. Since 

 the lateral expansion of the developing liver is more rapid than its forward 

 growth, the anterior face of the liver gradually becomes flattened in the area 

 just below (ventral to) the lateral mesocardia and immediately posterior to 

 the sinus venosus of the heart. The mesenteric tissue, covering the anterior 

 face of the liver, then fuses with the more dorsally located, lateral mesocardia. 

 A transverse division across the body is completed in this manner below the 

 lateral mesocardia, and the ventral parietal recesses in consequence are closed. 

 Passage from the pericardial cavity to the peritoneal (abdominal) cavity is 

 now possible only by way of the pericardioperitoneal canals (dorsal parietal 

 recesses) (fig. 362E). 



Although liver-rudiment development in the embryo of the frog and in the 

 embryos of other amphibians is precocious the essential procedure in the 



