CCELIAC AXIS. 



499 



right, along the lesser curvature of the stomach to the pylorus, lying in its 

 course between the layers of the lesser omentum, and giving branches to both 

 surfaces of the organ ; at its termination it anastomoses with the pyloric branch 

 of the hepatic. 



The Hepatic Artery in the adult is intermediate in size between the gastric 

 and splenic ; in the foetus, it is the largest of the three branches of the cceliac 



Fig. 290. The Cceliac Axis and its Branches, the Liver having been raised, and the Lesser 



Omentum removed. 



axis. It passes upwards to the right side, between the layers of the lesser 

 omentum, and in front of the foramen of Winslow, to the transverse fissure 

 of the liver, where it divides into two branches, right and left, which supply 

 the corresponding lobes of that organ, accompanying the ramifications of the 

 vena porta3 and hepatic duct. The hepatic artery, in its course along the right 

 border of the lesser omentum, is in relation with the ductus communis chole- 

 dochus and portal vein, the duct lying to the right of the artery, and the vena 

 portae behind. 



Its branches are the 



Pyloric. 



Gastro-duodenalis 



Cystic. 



Gastro-epiploica dextra. 

 Pancreatico-duodenalis. 



The pyloric branch arises from the hepatic, above the pylorus, descends to the 

 pyloric end of the stomach, and passes from right to left along its lesser curva- 

 ture, supplying it with branches, and inosculating with the gastric artery. 



