THE LIVER IO5 



is continued into the gland as a sheath, embracing the struc- 

 tures entering there and ramifying with them in their distri- 

 bution. This is the capsule of Glisson. It is fibrous in struc- 

 ture, is closely attached to the liver substance, and rather 

 loosely adherent to the structures which it envelops. The 

 walls of the portal vein are seen collapsed on section, while 

 those of the hepatic veins, which are not surrounded by Glis- 

 son's capsule, and which are closely adherent to the gland 

 substance, stand well open. 



A general idea of the liver's anatomy is obtained by noting 

 that it has five lobes, five fissures, five ligaments and five 

 structures passing through the transverse fissure. The lobes 

 are right, left, caudate, quadrate and Spigelian. The fissures 

 are transverse, umbilical, that for the ductus venosus, the 

 fossa for the vena cava and the fossa vesicalis. The liga- 

 ments are coronary, right lateral, left lateral, round and sus- 

 pensory or longitudinal. The structures passing through the 

 transverse fissure are the portal vein, the hepatic artery, the 

 hepatic duct, the nerves and the lymphatics. 



Blood-vessels. Of the two blood-vessels entering the fis- 

 sure the portal vein is decidedly the larger. It has collected 

 the blood from the abdominal organs by the radicles of its 

 tributaries, the gastric, splenic, superior and inferior mesen- 

 teric veins, while the hepatic artery is a branch of the celiac 

 axis. These, having been distributed in a manner to be noted 

 presently, discharge their blood into the radicles of the 

 hepatic veins, which, usually three in number, enter the as- 

 cending vena cava, where that vessel passes through the liver 

 behind. Again, it is to be remembered that these two vessels, 

 as well as the nerves and lymphatics, are enveloped in the 

 vagina, or capsule of Glisson. 



The portal vein and the hepatic artery give off branches to 

 the capsule of Glisson, constituting the vaginal plexus. The 

 portal vein, still ensheathed, then divides and subdivides until 

 its branches run directly between the lobules, and are called 

 interlobular veins. These direct subdivisions of the portal 



