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CHAPTER X. 



FATTY LIVER. 



THE second form of painless enlargement of the liver 

 is that which is due to the deposit of fatty or oily matter 

 in that organ. A certain portion of oily or fatty matter 

 is one of the chemical constituents of the liver ; hut this 

 may be so greatly increased, and appearing in different 

 forms in the substance of the organ, as to constitute more 

 than one-half of its normal weight. M. Vanquelin once 

 analyzed a fatty liver, which furnished forty-five parts 

 of oil out of 100 parts of the organ. 



ANATOMICALLY. This lesion is characterized by ap- 

 pearances resembling those exhibited by the livers of 

 those fishes which furnish a large quantity of oil, the 

 cod to wit: the organ is of a cream, yellnwish red, or 

 pale yellow colour, both internally as well as its outer 

 surfaces ; the liver is enlarged, the increase in size taking 

 place chiefly in a lateral direction ; its edges are flattened 

 and swollen, the peritoneal covering is smooth, shining, 

 transparent, and tense ; the organ is soft, and pits on 

 pressure; its flabbines^ is such that it enables us to push 

 it aside with the finger, and when the abdominal walls are 

 thin, its soft doughy consistence may be readily felt. The 

 fatty matter is generally distributed equally throughout 

 the whole structure, or infiltrated in the connecting cellu- 

 lar tissue. Sometimes, however, it is deposited in a mass, 



