518 LOBES OF THE LIVER. 



<his point, the portal vein. At their entrance into the transverse fissure the 

 branches of the hepatic duct are .the most anterior, next those of the artery, 

 and most posteriorly the portal vein. 



The Fissure for the gall-bladder is a shallow fossa extending forwards, 

 parallel with the longitudinal fissure, from the right extremity of the trans- 

 verse fissure to the free border of the liver, where it frequently forms a 

 noich. 



The Fissure for the vena cava is a deep and short fissure, occasionally 

 a circular tunnel, which proceeds from a little behind the right extremity 

 of the transverse fissure to the posterior border of the liver, and lodges the 

 inferior vena cava. 



These five fissures taken collectively resemble an inverted y, the base 

 corresponding with the free margin of the liver, and the apex with its pos- 

 terior border. Viewing them in this way, the two anterior branches re- 

 present the longitudinal fissure on the left, and the fissure for the gall- 

 bladder on the right side ; the two posterior, the fissure for the ductus 

 venosus on the left, and the fissure for the vena cava on the right side ; 

 and the connecting bar, the transverse fissure. 



Lobes. The Right lobe is four or six times larger than the left, from 

 which it is separated, on the concave surface, by the longitudinal fissure, 

 and, on the convex, by the longitudinal ligament. It is marked upon its 

 under surface by the transverse fissure, and by the fissures for the gall- 

 bladder and vena cava ; and presents three depressions, one, in front, for 

 the curve of the ascending colon, and two, behind, for the right supra- 

 renal capsule and kidney. 



The Left lobe is small and flattened, convex upon its upper surface, and 

 concave below, where it lies in contact with the anterior surface of the 

 stomach. It is sometimes in contact by its extremity with the upper end 

 of the spleen, and is in relation, by its posterior border, with the cardiac 

 orifice of the stomach and left pneumogastric nerve. 



The Lobus quadraius is a quadrilateral lobe situated on the under sur- 

 face of the right lobe ; it is bounded, in front, by the free border of the 

 liver ; behind , by the transverse fissure ; to the right, by the gall-bladder ; 

 and to the left, by the longitudinal fissure. 



The Lobus Spigelii* is a small triangular lobe, also situated on the under 

 surface of the right lobe : it is bounded, in front, by the transverse fissure ; 

 and, o?i the sides, by the fissures for the ductus venosus and vena cava. 



The Lobus caudatus is a small tail-like appendage of the lobus Spigelii, 

 from which it runs outwards like a crest into the right lobe, and serves to 

 separate the right extremity of the transverse fissure from the commence- 

 ment of the fissure for the vena cava. In some persons this lobe is well 

 marked, in others it is small and ill-defined. 



Reverting to the comparison of the fissures with an inverted y, it will 

 be observed, that the quadrilateral interval, in front of the transverse bar, 

 represents the lobus quadratus ; the triangular space behind the bar, the 

 lobus Spigelii ; and the apex of the letter, the point of union between the 

 inferior vena cava and the remains of the ductus venosus. 



Vessels and Nerves. The vessels entering into the structure of the liver 

 are alsojfoe in number; they are the 



* Adrian Spigel, a Belgian physician, professor at Padua after Casserius in 1016. He 

 assigned considerable importance to this little lobe, but it had been described by Syl 

 T-USJ full sixty years before his time. 



