374 



DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF THE HORSE 



oesophagea) which is mainly occupied by the thick margin of the oesophageal open- 

 ing of the diaphragm. 



The ventral border is thin, and is marked by two deep interlobar fissures or 

 incisures (Incisure interlobares), which partially divide the organ into three prin- 

 cipal lobes — right, middle, and left. The right lobe is the largest, except in old 

 subjects, in which it is frequently much atrophied. The middle lobe is the smallest. 

 It is marked by several small fissures, and by the umbilical fissure (Incisura um- 

 bilicalis) ; the latter contains the umbilical vein in the foetus, which is transformed 

 into the round ligament after birth. 



The right border is thin and long. It is nearly vertical, and extends backward 

 to about the middle of the sixteenth rib. 



The left border is thin and short. It extends backward to a point opposite 



Right lateral ligament 



\ 



Sight 

 lobe 



Coronary 

 ligaincnt 



Posterior vena cava 



Oesophageal 



notch -^^/^ lateral ligament 



Falciform ligament 



Round 

 ligament 



Fig. 274. — Liver of Young Horse, Hardened in situ, P.vrietai- Surface. 



the lower part of the ninth or tenth rib. The ventral and lateral borders together 

 constitute the margo acutus. 



The liver is held in position largely by the pressure of the other viscera and 

 by its close application to the diaphragm. It has six ligaments. 



1. The coronary ligament (Lig. coronarium hepatis) attaches it closely to 

 the diaphragm. It consists of two lamina?. The right one is attached to the 

 right of the fossa venae cavse ; the left one begins to the left of the vena cava and 

 passes upward and outward, becoming continuous with the left lateral ligament at 

 the left margin of the oesophageal notch; it detaches a middle fold which extends 

 to the notch and is continuous with the small omentum. The two laminae unite 

 below the vena cava to form the next ligament. 



2. The falciform ligament (Lig. falciforme hepatis) is a crescentic fold which 

 attaches the middle lobe to the sternal part of the diaphragm and to the abdominal 

 floor for a variable distance. In its concave free edge is found 



