934 THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION. 



lobes. Except along the line of attachment of this ligament to the liver, the 

 superior and anterior surfaces are covered by peritoneum. 



The superior surface (Fig. 511) comprises a part of both lobes, and, as a whole, 

 is convex, and fits under the vault of the Diaphragm ; its central part, however, 

 presents a shallow depression, which corresponds with the position of the heart on 

 the upper surface of the Diaphragm. It is separated from the anterior, posterior, 

 and lateral surfaces by thick, rounded borders. Its left extremity is separated 

 from the under surface by a prominent sharp margin. 



The anterior surface is large and triangular in shape, comprising also a part 

 of both lobes. It is directed forward, and the greater part of it is in contact with 

 the Diaphragm, which separates it from the right lower ribs and their cartilages. 

 In the middle line it lies behind the ensiform cartilage, to the left of which it is 

 protected by the seventh and eighth left costal cartilages. In the angle between 

 the diverging rib cartilages of opposite sides the anterior surface is in contact with 

 the abdominal wall. It is separated from the inferior surface by a sharp margin, 

 and from the superior and lateral surfaces by thick rounded borders. 



The lateral or right surface is convex from before backward and slightly so 

 from above downward. It is directed toward the right side, forming the base of 

 the wedge, and lies against the lateral portion of the Diaphragm, which separates 

 it from the lower part of the left pleura and lung, outside which are the right 

 costal arches from the seventh to the eleventh inclusive. 



Its under or visceral surf ace (Figs. 512, 513) is uneven, concave, directed down- 

 ward and backward and to the left, and is in relation with the stomach and 

 duodenum, the hepatic flexure of the colon, and the right kidney and suprarenal 

 capsule. The surface is divided by a longitudinal fissure into a right and a left lobe, 

 and is almost completely invested by peritoneum ; the only parts where this cover- 

 ing is absent are where the gall-bladder is attached to the liver and at the trans- 

 verse fissure, where the two layers of the lesser omentum are separated from each 

 other by the blood-vessels and duct of the viscus. The under surface of the left 

 lobe presents behind and to the left a depression where it is moulded over the car- 

 diac part of the stomach, and to the right and near the centre a rounded eminence, 

 the tuber omentale, which fits into the concavity of the lesser curvature, lying in 

 front of the anterior layer of the lesser omentum. The under surface of the right 

 lobe is divided into two unequal portions by a fossa, which lodges the gall-bladder, 

 the fossa vesicalis ; the portion to the left, the smaller of the two, is somewhat 

 oblong in shape, its antero-posterior diameter being greater than its transverse. It 

 is known as the quadrate lobe, and is in relation with the pyloric end of the stomach 

 and the first portion of the duodenum. The portion of the under surface of the 

 right lobe to the right of the fossa vesicalis presents two shallow concave impres- 

 sions, one situated behind the other, the two being separated by a ridge. The 

 anterior of these two impressions, the impressio colica, is produced by the hepatic 

 flexure of the colon ; the posterior, the impressio renalis* is occupied by the upper 

 end of the right kidney. To the inner side of the latter impression is a third and 

 slightly marked impression, lying between it and the neck of the gall-bladder. 

 This is caused by the second portion of the duodenum, and is known as the im- 

 pressio duodenalis. Just in front of the vena cava is a narrow strip of liver tissue, 

 the caudate lobe, which connects the right inferior angle of the Spigelian lobe to 

 the under surface of the right lobe. Immediately below it is the foramen of 

 Winslow. 



The posterior surface is rounded and broad behind the right lobe, but narrow 

 on the left. Over a large part of its extent it is not covered by peritoneum ; this 

 uncovered portion is about three inches broad, and is in direct contact with the 

 Diaphragm. It is marked off from the upper surface by the line of reflection of 

 the upper or anterior layer of the coronary ligament. It is in the same way 

 marked off from the under surface of the liver by the line of reflection of the 

 lower layer of the coronary ligament. In its centre this posterior surface is deeply 

 notched for the vertebral column and crura of the Diaphragm, and to the right 



