THE ORGANS ANNEXED TO ABDOMINAL DIGESTIVE CANAL. 497 



suspensory ligament) is a falciform and vertical serous layer, the adherent border 

 of which is attached, almost in the median plane, to the posterior face of the 

 diaphragm, and even to the inferior abdominal parietes. At its free border is a 

 fibrous cord (the round ligament), the remains of the foetal umbilical vein. Its upper 

 part enters a secondary notch in the middle lobe, and is prolonged on the anterior 

 face of this to the point where the vena cava enters the diaphragm. 



Structure. — As elements in its structure, the liver offers for study : 1. A 

 serous membrane. 2. A fibrous capsule. 3. The proper and fundamental tissue 

 of the organ. 



1. Serous Membrane. — This membrane is only an expansion of the 

 peritoneal bands or ligaments already described, and of which the two, on arriving 

 at the organ, separate to become developed on its surfaces, and to completely 

 cover it except in the anterior and posterior fissures. 



2. Fibrous (or Glisson's) Capsule. — This, the proper envelope of the 

 liver, is formed by a very fine fibrous membrane, closely adherent to the preceding 

 layer on the one side, and to the tissue of the liver on the other. It penetrates 

 the substance of that tissue in passing around the vessels lodged in the posterior 

 fissure, and from its inner face it sends a multitude of lamellar partitions, which 

 separate the hepatic lobules, and form a veritable framework in the interior 

 of the organ. The presence of this capsule has been denied, but its existence is 

 not to be doubted in all the domesticated animals ; it is particularly well developed 

 in Ruminants and the Pig. 



3. Proper Tissue of the Liver.— The proper substance of the liver is 

 distinguished by its bluish-bro\\Ti or violet hue, the shades of which vary much 

 according to the subjects. It is heavy and compact, and so friable that it is crushed 

 by the most moderate pressure. It is composed of polyhedric masses from 

 ■^ to -^Q of an inch in diameter, which are readily enough distinguished from one 

 another through the peritoneum on the surface of the organ, particularly when 

 the septa thrown in between them from Glisson's capsule are hypertrophied, from 

 some slight chronic irritation. 



Sometimes the hepatic lobule is uniform in colour throughout ; often it shows 

 a red central point, with a yellow circle around it, and an interrupted red ring 

 circumscribing this again, and which communicates with a similar circle belonging 

 to the adjoining lobules, so as to compose a network on the surface of the gland ; 

 at other times the lobules are yellow in the centre and red at the circumference. 

 All these appearances, the study of which at one time was considered of much 

 importance, are uncertain, and may vary in a thousand ways, in combining with 

 one another ; so that they really demand but little attention, due as they are to 

 the greater or less degree of plenitude of the different vessels entering the lobule. 



As the liver is composed of lobules placed beside each other, we will describe 

 one ; as, when its structure is well known, the organization of the entire organ 

 will be understood. 



In a hepatic lobule we find : 1. Hepatic (or biliary) cells. 2. Biliary canaliculi 

 (or ducts). 3. Afferent vessels. 4. An efferent vessel. 5. Lymphatics. 6. Con- 

 nective tissue. 



Hepatic cells. — These are polygonal or round, and much resemble squamous 

 epithehum ; their diameter varies from 3^ to 2^ of an inch. They have no 

 enveloping membrane, but contain one or two nuclei with nucleoli, granules 

 coloured by biliary matter, small masses of a substance which has been studied 

 by Bernard and Schiff, and named " animal amidon, or glycogen ; " and, lastly. 



