1236 THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. 



It consists of two layers of peritoneum, between which, in the lower border of the 

 fold, runs the round ligament of the liver the remains of the left umbilical vein 

 of the foetus. 



Posterior Wall of the General Peritoneal Cavity. The peritoneum clothing the 

 anterior abdominal wall is continued on . to the inferior surface of the diaphragm. 

 Thence it is reflected on to the superior surface of the liver, and there the anterior 

 wall of the great sac becomes continuous with the posterior wall. The peritoneum 

 on the posterior wall first clothes the superior surface of the liver, then turns round 

 its anterior border, and is continued back on the inferior surface as far as the attach- 

 ment of the lesser omentum, where it quits the liver and passes down, as the 

 anterior layer of the lesser omentum, to the stomach and the duodenum. 



The line of reflection of the peritoneum from diaphragm to liver is interrupted near the median 

 plane by the falciform ligament. The portion lying to the right of this fold forms the superior 

 layer of the coronary ligament ;. that to the left of it, the superior layer of the left triangular 

 ligament of the liver. 



The extent to which the peritoneum passes uninterruptedly back on the inferior surface of the 

 liver varies according as it is traced at the right, the left, or the middle portion of the liver. It 

 clothes the right portion as far back as the inferior edge of the uncovered area of the liver, where 

 it is reflected on to the posterior wall of the abdomen and the superior extremity of the right 

 kidney (constituting the hepato -renal ligament), as the inferior layer of the coronary ligament 

 On the left portion it is continued back as far as the posterior border of the left lobe or even 

 a little way on to its superior surface whence it passes to the diaphragm as the inferior layer 

 of the left triangular ligament. The middle region of the under surface it clothes only as far as 

 the porta hepatis and the fossa of the ductus venosus ; from those the peritoneum is carried down 

 as the anterior layer of the lesser omentum. 



The peritoneum, which passes back on the inferior surface of the diaphragm to the left of the 

 liver, is continued down on the posterior abdominal wall, behind the fundus of the stomach and 

 the spleen, until the left kidney is reached. It covers the superior and lateral part of the kidney, 

 and is then carried . forwards as the lieno-renal ligament to the spleen, around which it passes 

 clothing its renal, phrenic, and gastric surfaces as far as the hilum (Fig. 966) ; from that it 

 is carried to the stomach as the left layer of the gastro-splenic ligament. Similarly, the 

 inferior layer of the left triangular ligament is continued down on the posterior part of the 

 diaphragm to the oesophagus, the anterior and left sides of which it clothes. It also forms a 

 little fold at the left of the oesophagus, known as the gastro-phrenic ligament (see p. 1241 and 

 Fig. 969). 



At the right side, the portion of the peritoneum which forms the inferior layer of the 

 coronary ligament is carried down over the right kidney (and inferior part of the supra-renal 

 gland) to the duodenum and right colic flexure, over both of which it passes. 



We shall now follow down the peritoneum forming the posterior wall of the 

 general peritoneal cavity which we have already traced to the stomach as seen 

 in a sagittal section (Fig. 964). 



Having reached the lesser curvature of the stomach, it passes down over the 

 front of that organ, clothing it completely as far as the greater curvature. From 

 that it descends, and is usually adherent to the transverse colon, forming the 

 anterior layer of the gas tro- colic ligament. Thence it passes onwards as the 

 .most anterior fold of. the greater omentum. Arrived at the inferior border of the 

 greater omentum, the membrane returns on itself, and passes upwards towards the 

 transverse colon, forming the most posterior layer of that omentum. After meeting 

 and covering the posterior aspect of the transverse colon (Fig. 964), it is then 

 continued, as the posterior layer of the transverse mesocolon, to the posterior 

 abdominal wall, which it reaches at the anterior border of the pancreas (Fig. 969). 



From the anterior border of the pancreas it is continued downwards again, 

 clothing first the lower surface of the pancreas, then the front of the third portion of 

 the duodenum, and, below that, the posterior abdominal wall. From the latter, 

 however, it is soon carried forwards again by the branches of the superior mesen- 

 teric vessels passing to the small intestine. Eunning out along those, it forms 

 the superior (or, more correctly, the right) layer of the obliquely placed mesentery 

 (Fig. 964) : on reaching the small bowel at the border of the mesentery, it invests 

 that tube, giving it its serous coat, and then returns as the inferior, or left, layer 

 of the mesentery to the posterior abdominal wall, on which it runs down, covering 

 the great vessels near the median plane, and the peoas major muscle and ureter at 

 each side, to enter the pelvis. The mesentery is described at p. 1208. 



Pelvic Peritoneum. The arrangement of the peritoneum in the pelvis minor 



