82 ANATOMY OF ACUTE ATROPHY. 



ANATOMICALLY. Acute Atrophy of the Liver presents, 

 on post-mortem examinations, structural changes and 

 lesions of grave and diverse kinds ; the only constant 

 one, however, is a marked diminution in the size of the 

 liver and an enlarged condition of the spleen ; hence 

 we must regard the liver as the grand centre of mischief 

 from whence the varied derangements in the functions 

 of the other organs take their rise. Taking the liver 

 in its normal condition as weighing about 4 11). 

 avoirdupois, and its relative weight to that of the entire 

 body as 1 to 25 or 30, and taking the statistics, as 

 recorded by our own Bright, and Budd, and Freridis 

 of Vienna, of 31 cases of acute wasting of that 

 M, it was found that the diminution in volume 

 was estimated at one-third, one-half, or even two- 

 thirds of its normal size. Bright saw the weight 

 reduced to 2 lb., to 23 oz., and even to 19 

 Frerichs, in two cases, found the liver to weigh only 

 lib. 13 oz. avoirdupois, the ivla'ivc weight in tl 

 instances to the whole body being as 1 to 68- f> and 1 

 to 54'2, which clearly indicated a wasting of more 

 than one-half of the organ. I'.uhl found the liver 

 reduced to 22 oz., and I have met with throe cas< 

 a like kind; one weighed 2:'., one 22.1, and the third 

 19J oz. respectively. In the majority of cases the size 

 of the gland is diminished in every direction, more 

 especially in its thickness ; the capsule is puckered, 

 and the parenchyma llabby and shrivelled ; a 

 section of the organ presents the colour of yellow ochre 

 or rhubarb, the blood-vessels are empty, and the out- 

 lines of the lobules are no longer visible. The gall- 

 bladder in many cases is found empty, or contains only 



