1196 THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. 



anterior portion of the diaphragm, and to the abdominal wall as low as to the 

 umbilicus by a fold of peritoneum which is known as the ligamentum falciforme. 

 This fold runs forwards from and is continuous with the folds of peritoneum which 

 limit the bare area, and the whole forms a sort of mesentery or meso-hepaticum. 



The peritoneum is also reflected off from the margins of the porta hepatis and 

 from the fossa for the ductus venosus, and passes thence to the lesser curvature 

 of the stomach and the first part of the duodenum, forming the omentum minus, 

 The liver may, in fact, be regarded as lying inside a peritoneal fold which stretches 

 from the lesser curvature of the stomach below to the diaphragm and anterior 

 abdominal wall above. This fold is embryologically the ventral mesentery of 

 the stomach, or ventral meso-gastrium, and its original simple character has 

 become complicated by the growth of the liver within it and by the rotation 

 which the stomach undergoes to the right side at its inferior part. 



The various ligaments of the liver are as follows : 



(1) Ligamentum Falciforme Hepatis. The falciform ligament of the liver is a 

 crescentic fold of peritoneum, which is attached by its convex border to the inferior surface 

 of the diaphragm, arid to the anterior abdominal wall (an inch or more to the right of 

 the median plane) to within a short distance (1 to 2 inches, 2-5 to 5 cm.) of the umbilicus. 

 Its concave border is attached to the superior and anterior aspects of the liver ; below 

 this level it presents a free rounded edge, stretching from near the umbilicus to the 

 umbilical notch of the liver, and it contains within its layers a stout fibrous cord called the 

 round ligament. 



Near the posterior part of the superior surface of the liver the two layers of which the falciform 

 ligament is composed separate, and enclose a triangular area on the posterior surface, in front of 

 the superior end of the vena cava, uncovered by peritoneum. Traced backwards, the right layer 

 passes into the superior layer of the coronary ligament, the left into that of the left triangular 

 ligament. It is the remains of a part of the ventral mesentery of the embryo, and has no 

 supporting or suspensory action on the liver of the adult. 



(2) Ligamentum Coronarium Hepatis. The coronary ligament consists of the layers 

 of peritoneum which are reflected from the liver to the diaphragm at the margins of the 

 uncovered area of the right lobe. The name of right triangular ligament has been given 

 to its pointed right extremity (Fig. 938). 



The coronary ligament consists of a superior and an inferior layer. The superior is 

 formed by the prolongation to the right of the right layer of the falciform ligament. The 

 inferior layer is formed by the continuation of the inferior layer of the right triangular 

 ligament to the left side, and by the reflection from the margin of the caudate lobe by 

 the side of the inferior vena cava (see Fig. 938). 



(3) Ligamentum Triangulare Dextrum. The right triangular ligament (O.T. right 

 lateral ligament) is merely the pointed right extremity of the coronary ligament, where 

 the superior and inferior layers become continuous with one another. 



(4) Ligamentum Triangulare Smistrum. The left triangular ligament (O.T. left 

 lateral ligament) is a considerable triangular fold, continuous with the left layer of the 

 falciform ligament, which is attached by one border to the superior surface of the left lobe 

 near its posterior border, and by the other to the diaphragm, for a distance of several 

 inches as a rule. 



Its attachment to the diaphragm lies nearly altogether to the left of the cesophageal orifice, 

 and about f inch (18 mm.) anterior to the plane of this opening. 



Two other structures, termed ligaments, are not peritoneal folds, but obliterated blood- 

 vessels, namely the ligamentum teres hepatis or round ligament and the ligamentum 

 venosum (Arantii). 



(5) Ligamentum Teres Hepatis. The round ligament of the liver is a stout fibrous 

 band which passes from the umbilicus, backwards and upwards, within the free margin of 

 the falciform ligament, to the umbilical notch of the liver, and thence upwards and 

 backwards in the umbilical fossa, to join the left branch of the portal vein. It is the 

 remains of the left umbilical vein, which, before birth, carries the arterial blood from the 

 placenta to the body of the foetus (Fig. 88). 



(6) Ligamentum Venosum Arantii. The venous ligament of Arantius (O.T. obliter- 

 ated ductus venosus) is a slender fibrous cord, which passes from the left branch of the 

 portal vein, nearly opposite the attachment of the round ligament, upwards in the fossa 



