RETROGRESSn^E CHANGES IN THE FETAL VESSELS 



AND THE SUSPENSORY LIGAMENT OF 



THE LIVER 



ARTHUR WILLIAM MEYER 



From the Division uf Anatomy of the Medical School of Stanford University 



TWENTY-SIX FIGURES 



The formation of the hgamentuiii teres and the persistence 

 of the suspensory ligament of the hver in some mammals and 

 not in others are closely related to some of the questions dis- 

 cussed elsewhere (Meyer '14). In text books, manuals and some 

 monographs on the anatomy of the domestic and other animals 

 it is usually stated that the thickened caudal border of the sus- 

 pensory ligament of the liver represents the obliterated umbil- 

 ical vein or round hepatic ligament. Krause ('84) writing on 

 the anatomy of the rabbit adds, that it may occasionally remain 

 patent. Reighard and Jennings ('01) state that in the cat "The 

 ligamentum teres is the thickened free caudal border of the 

 suspensor}^ ligament. It is the remains of the fetal umbilical 

 vein." Ellenberger and Baum ('91) \vi'itiiig on the dog, state 

 however, that the suspensory ligament merely contains remnants 

 of the umbilical vein (Ligamentum teres) and Martin ('02-'04) 

 in his Lehrbuch der Anatomie der Haustiere says "In dem 

 rechten Einschnitte (of the liver) ist die Gallenblase mit ihrem 

 Gange eingebettet, in dem linkem Zieht sich das Ligamentmn 

 teres hinein bis zur Nabelvenengrube." Chaveau ('90) also 

 states that "At its (the suspensory ligament's) free border is a 

 fibrous cord (the round ligament) fornied by the obliteration 

 of the fetal mnbilical vein," and jNIilne-Edwards ('GO) in the 

 "Lecons sur la physiologie et I'anatomie comparee" declared 

 that "On designe sous le nom de ligament rond le cordon fibreux 

 qui resulte de I'atrophie de la veine ombilicale et qui loge dans 

 I'epaisseur de ce repli pres de son bord libre." 



477 



