112 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FARM. 



matic or convex side, the liver of the ox has much the appear- 

 ance of the liver in man. There is a notch, not very deep, at 

 the place where the umbilical ligament reaches the margin of 

 the liver, and passes into its substance. The intestinal aspect 

 of the organ below and to the right shows a lobule of a pris- 

 matic shape> corresponding to the right lobe above, the base 

 of which exhibits a prominence like the rudiment of a lobule. 

 There is no left lobe ; but the vestige of a lobule may be recog- 

 nised in a papilla which is above the transverse sulcus, where 

 the principal vessels enter and leave the liver. 



With very slight exceptions, the surface of the liver is free 

 that is, unattached. This large free surface is a serous secret- 

 ing surface, the outer covering of the liver being a part of the 

 great shut sac formed by the peritoneum. Thus the free secret- 

 ing surface of the liver is a part of the interior surface of that 

 sac. This free secreting surface is everywhere in contact with 

 a like free secreting serous surface namely, some other part 

 of the interior of the same great shut sac formed by the peri- 

 toneum. The parts adjacent to the liver are the diaphragm, the 

 posterior surface of which is lined by peritoneum the walls of 

 the abdomen, also lined by peritoneum the stomachs, and par- 

 ticularly the third or manyplies and the intestines, the outer 

 coat of which is peritoneum. The liver, though free in so 

 large a portion of its surface, is not loose ; it is supported by 

 the parts in contact with it, and is permitted to move only in 

 a very limited degree when the attitude of the whole body is 

 changed. As its covering of peritoneum is not isolated, but a 

 portion of one great sac, it is obvious that that membrane must 

 extend to the liver and pass from it at particular points ; more- 

 over, the blood-vessels, nerves, and lymphatic vessels common 

 to it with the rest of the body, and its proper duct, by which 

 its secretion is carried to the gall-bladder and the duodenum, 

 must have an inlet and exit from the liver. At all such points, 



