SIZE OF LIVER NORMAL AND ABNORMAL. 11 



at 4 to 6 pounds ; and by Frerichs at 4' 6 pounds avoir- 

 dupois. 



The statistics from which these calculations were 

 gleaned, were made upon individuals who had died 

 suddenly from accidents, without the loss of any blood ; 

 and whose livers, on careful examination, presented a 

 perfectly healthy appearance. 



AGE. Frerichs states "that it is during the first stages 

 of infantile development, that the liver is largest, in 

 proportion to the size of the body." Portal and Mekel 

 have calculated that the liver in newly-born children 

 ought to be one-fourth heavier than in children from 

 eight to ten months old. As age advances the organ be- 

 comes smaller, and much in advance of that of the body. 

 In old age, therefore, the liver presents a marked contrast 

 to th ilar tissue of the heart; as there is as a 



rule, "//<; iio former, and Inj^rlm^nj of the latter. 



';. Will. Francis (llisson in 1750 



maintained that the li\v: viei in men than in 



a ; Ihima.s maintained the very reverse. Frerichs 

 h'jwever, has been unable to detect any marked differ- 

 ences dependent upon sex, beyond the fact that in 

 "scrofulous women" he found it larger, and attributes 

 this to the a! mm Unit deposit of fatty matter. 



1); I ooi). The process of digestion exer- 



cises a marked influence over the size of the liver, 

 rly (hiring its second stage (chylification) ; this 

 to the state of congestion which then 

 9 place; and partly to the abundant deposit of 

 rphous materials in the interior of the 

 : ill more striking is the influence of a 

 diet rich in fat, and too bulky, with at the same time 



