234 ANATOMY OF THE RABBIT 



base of the remaining portions of the Hver, the hepatic 

 artery divides into right and left rami, the right ramus 

 sending a branch, the cystic artery (a. cystica), to the gall 

 bladder. 

 (c) The portal vein (v. portae), a vessel of large calibre, but 

 usually found in a collapsed condition, enters the lesser 

 omentum from the dorsal surface of the pyloric antrum, 

 having been formed by the confluence behind this of the 

 veins from the intestines and the stomach. It distributes 

 branches to the right posterior lobule and the caudate lobe; 

 then, passing directly forward to the base of the left lobe, is 

 distributed to the latter, a right branch being given off to 

 the right anterior lobule. 



4. Divide the lesser omentum with the structures described above. 

 Divide the falciform, the coronary, and the triangular ligaments, 

 cutting near {but not into) the liver so as not to injure the central 

 tendon of the diaphragm, which resembles the coronary ligament. 

 Remove the liver and examine its dorsal surface for the folloAving: 

 (a) The inferior vena cava, accommodated in a depression of 

 the thickened dorsal portion of the organ. The vessel 

 should be opened lengthwise. 

 (&) The hepatic veins (vv. hepaticae) open almost directly 

 from the substance of the liver into the inferior cava. They 

 are typically four in number, there being separate vessels 

 for the anterior and posterior parts of the right lobe and 

 for the caudate lobe in addition to a large vessel formed by 

 the union of tributaries from the right anterior lobule and 

 from both divisions of the left lobe. 

 (c) The renal impression (impressio renalis), an extensive 

 excavation of the right posterior lobule for the accommo- 

 dation of the right kidney. 



V. THE INTESTINES 



The posterior portion of the digestive tube, or that portion 

 extending from the pyloric aperture of the stomach to the anal 

 aperture, is divisible into two main parts, not wholly distinguish- 



