rOSITIOX WITH EEGARD TO NEIGHBOURING PARTS. 383 



Two sliaUoio impressions are seen on the under surface of the riglifc 

 lobe ; one in front {impressio collca), corresponding with the hepatic 

 flexure of the colon ; and one behind {impircssio renalis), corresponding 

 with the right kidney. 



Borders. — Tlie anterior border of the liver, a thin, free, and sharp 

 margin, is the most movable part. Opposite the longitudinal fissure it 

 presents a notch, and, to the right of this, there is often another slight 

 notch opposite the fundus of the gall-bladder. 



The posterior border, which is directed backwards and upwards, is 

 thick and rounded on the right side, but becomes gradually thinner 

 towards the left. It is the most fixed part of the organ, and" is firmly 

 attached by areolar tissue to the diaphragm. This border of the liver 

 is curved opposite to the projection of the vertebral column, and has a 

 deep groove for the reception of the ascending veua cava. 



Of the two lateral borders of the liver, the right is placed lower 

 down, and is thick and obtuse ; whilst the left is the thinnest part of 

 the gland, is raised to a higher level, and reaches the cardiac part of 

 the stomach. 



Ligaments. — The five ligaments of the liver are, with one exception, 

 only folds of serous membrane. One of these, tlie coronary ligament, 

 is a reflection of peritoneum around the somewhat triangular portion of 

 the posterior border of the liver, which is immediately adherent to the 

 diaphragm and at either end is continued into two short folds — the 

 right and left lateral or triangular ligaments, of which the left is the 

 longer and more distinct. Another of these so-called ligaments is the 

 broad, falciform, or suspensory ligament, a wide thin membrane, 

 formed of two cohering layers of peritoneum. By one of its margins 

 it is connected with the under surface of the diaphragm, and with" the 

 sheath of the right rectus muscle of the abdomen as low as the um- 

 bilicus ; by another it is attached along the convex surface of the liver, 

 from the posterior border to the notch in the anterior border : the re- 

 maining margin is free, and contains between its layers the round 

 ligament, a dense fibrous cord, the remnant of the umbilical vein of 

 the foetus, which ascends from the umbilicus, within the lower edge of 

 the broad ligament, and enters the longitudinal fissure on the under 

 surface. 



POSITIOX "WITH REGARD TO NEIGHBOURING PARTS. — Occupying the 



right hypochondriac region, and extending across the epigastric region 

 into a part of the left hypochondrium, the liver is accurately adapted to 

 the vault of the diaphragm above, and is covered, to a small extent in 

 front, by the abdominal parietes. The right portion reaches higher 

 beneath the ribs than the left, corresponding thus with the elevated 

 position of the diaphragm on the right side. The liver is separated by 

 the diaphragm from the concave base of the right lung, the thin 

 margin of which descends so as to intervene between the surface of the 

 body and the solid mass of the liver. 



The convex surface is protected, on the right, by the six or seven 

 lower ribs, and in front by the cartilages of the same and by the ensi- 

 form cartilage — the diaphragm, of course, being interposed. The 

 situation of the liver is modified by the position of the body, and also 

 by the movements of respiration ; thus, in the upright or sitting 

 posture, it reaches below the margin of the thorax ; but in the 

 recumbent position ascends an inch or an inch and a half higher up, 



