236 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY FOR NURSES 



mainly of two large and two smaller lobes. The gall- 

 bladder and its ducts are situated on the under surface of 

 the liver. This organ will be subsequently described. 



Function of the Liver. Its chief function is to 

 secrete bile, a necessary agent in the process of digestion. 

 It also forms glycogen, assists in the formation of urea 

 and allied products, and modifies the blood as it passes 

 through it. 



Bile is both a secretion and an excretion ; it contains but 

 few constituents other than those that are formed in the 

 liver, and, as has been said, it is destined to play an im- 



Gastric 

 surface. 



T.fap. 

 T. omen. 



Non-peritoneal 



surface. 

 Imp. supra-ren. 

 (non-perit). 

 Imp. supra-ren. 

 Imp, renalis. 



Imp, duodenalis. 

 Impressio celica. 



Impressio pylorica. 



FIG. 118. Posterior and inferior surfaces of the liver (Nancrede). 



portant part in the process of nutrition. The other secre- 

 tions of the liver are waste products that are associated 

 with the bile. 



The color of the liver is different from that of all the 

 other glands. It is dark brown, and sometimes stained 

 yellow with bile. 



Blood=supply. The liver is abundantly supplied 

 with blood, and this blood is modified very materially in 

 its passage through the gland. 



The blood-vessels that enter the liver are the portal 

 vein, made up of the gastric, splenic, superior, and inferior 

 mesenteric veins. The hepatic artery supplies the re- 



