THE ALIMENTARY TRACT, SPLEEN, AND MESENTERIES 269 



gastric vein and the branches of the dorsal hepatic artery. It is the 

 lig. hepato-entericum. Its posterior margin ends freely at about 

 the level of the bile-duct, while anteriorly it becomes attached to the 

 post-caval vein, the pericardium, and the posterior wall of the 

 trachea, where it ends. 



3. The Ventral Mesentery. 



The Ventral Mesentery^ or lig. suspensorium hepatis (Rabl), as its 

 name implies attaches the liver to the ventral body-wall. It continues 

 posteriorly along the abdominal vein as far as the pelvic girdle, while 

 anteriorly it ends at the pericardium. 



4. The Ligamentum Hepato-cavo-pulmonale. 



The lungs are not symmetrically related to the mesenteries. On the 

 left the lung is supported only from the dorsal side by a reduplication 

 of the mesentery supporting the stomach — the pleural ligament 

 (l.pl.) — the posterior third of the lung (in the collapsed condition) 

 being entirely free. The right lung on the other hand, in addition to 

 being so supported, is attached to the liver by the lig. hepato-cavo- 

 pulmonale (l.h.c.p.'). This mesentery attaches the ventral surface of 

 the lung to the lateral edge of the liver, and, as already stated, occurs 

 on the right side only. 



There yet remain to be mentioned a pair of mesenteric folds of 

 considerable interest and importance. They are the lig. coronaria 

 hepatis (l.c.h.) (Rabl) and extend from the abdominal openings of 

 Miiller's ducts — the ostia tubae — to the liver. The free edge of each 

 fold forms the ventral lip of the funnel leading into the ostium, the 

 dorsal lip of the funnel being formed by the lig. tubae (l.t.) (Rabl), 

 which is a smaller fold joining the larger towards the liver. A similar 

 ligament is also present in the male, although of course it is much 

 smaller, and Rabl (1904), who has studied the development of this 

 structure, states that, in the male, the normally single ligament may 

 represent either the lig. tubae or lig. coronarium hepatis, the other 

 having atrophied. The same author suggests that the lig. coronarium 

 hepatis is homologous with the pleuro-peritoneal membrane of the 

 mammalian embryo, which had been previously regarded as the an- 

 lage of the diaphragm (vide infra). 



The peritoneum is a thin, loose membrane lining the abdominal 

 cavity. It is only very loosely attached to the body-wall so that it 

 is easily stripped therefrom. It is pigmented, but not heavily, the 

 chromatophores being arachnoid. 



