SOME POINTS IN THE ANATOMY OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. 63 



The oesophageal groove, as already pomted out, lies as a rule 

 in eontact with the prominent right or anterior margins of the 

 oesophageal orifice of the diaphragm — sometimes perhaps with 

 the oesophagus itself. 



Portal fissure. — When the liver is in the body or when hard- 

 ened before removal, this fissure, instead of appearing as a wide 

 shallow depression, has the form of a narrow cleft, with a depth 

 of I to 1 inch. This form, as in the case of the umbilical fissure 

 and that of the ductus venosus, results from the folding 

 together of the portions of the liver bounding the fissure. 

 At the hottom of the fissure the right and left hepatic ducts 

 unite to form the hepatic duct proper ; at its mouth, this latter 

 unites with the cystic duct to form the common bile-duct. 



Renal wijnrssion. — In many specimens of hardened livers, 

 this impression belongs rather to the posterior than the 

 inferior surface of the liver. 



Like the portal fissure, the umbilical fissure and the fissure of 

 the ductus venosus are deep clefts — deeper still than the 

 portal — formed by the folding over of the left lobe against the 

 right, as already explained. To -these three only can the term 

 fissure be properly applied. The depressions for the cava and 

 the gall-bladder, often called fissures, are more properly known 

 as fossse. In the Anatomische Nomenclatur all five are known as 

 fossse, a term not at all applicable to the first three. 



The attachment of the left lateral ligament to the diaphragm 

 lies nearly altogether to the left of the oesophageal orifice, and 

 about I inch (18 mm.) in front of the line of this opening. 



Very often, too, it is directed from the diaphragm backwards 

 to its hepatic attachment. 



Hejjatic duct. — As a rule, five or six ducts leave the liver at 

 the bottom of the portal fissure ; these generally unite into right 

 and left main ducts ; sometimes, on the other hand, they all 

 converge towards and unite at the beginning of the hepatic duct. 

 It is interesting to note that the ducts from the Spigelian 

 and caudate lobes join the left main duct. Formed at the 

 bottom of the portal fissure, the hepatic duct lies practically 

 altogether within that fissure, and joins the cystic duct at its 

 mouth to form the common bile-duct. 



The cystic duct is usually somewhat longer than the hepatic ; 



