LIVER OF NATIVE AUSTRALIAN CAT. 



(DASYURUS VIVERRINUS.) 



Here one is struck bv tlie small amount of 

 fusion that has taken place between the lobes, so that alto- 

 gether the liver lias a very primitive character. In a 

 specimen (adult) given me by Professor J. P. Hill, when 

 examined from the diaphragmatic surface, the three 

 primary lobes, viz., mesial and right and left (laterals) 

 were defined, and also the dorsal portion of the caudate 

 lobes. The mesial division was quite distinct from the 

 laterals, being but slightly attached dorsally at the inf. 

 v. cava. The right and left (laterals) lobes were only con- 

 nected dorsally by a narrow isthmus of hepatic tissue be- 

 tween the exit of the v. cava and the concavity for the 

 passage of the oesophagus on the dorsal margin. 

 Maximum Measurements. Laterally. Dorso-ventrally. 



Right 2.25 em. . . 3 cm. 



Left 4 , .. 4 



Cystic or mesial 5 4 



Chief interest, however, apart from the mobility, 

 centres round the cystic or mesial lobe. On this surface 

 there was a well defined cleft, anteriorally, for the gall 

 bladder, measuring 1.5 cm. long, and .75 cm. laterally At 

 the base or dorsal part of the cleft a small lobule is dif- 

 ferentiated, representing the intermediate mesial lobe. 

 It measures .75 cm., and .5 cm. across, and is bounded by 

 the gall bladder fissure on the right, and a depression on 

 the left, really representing the cystic or mesial fissure 

 of other Marsupials. Between it and the inf. v. cava 

 passes the suspensory ligament. Thus a right, left, and 

 intermediate mesial or cystic lobes could be distinguished. 



97 h 



