188 AN A TO MY OF THE ABDOMEN, ETC. 



teriorly with the diaphragm and vertebral column, tin 

 aorta, and vena cava. 



The liver is held in its place by the following liga- 

 ments : 



Broad, or Suspensory, Right and left Lateral, 

 Round, Coronary. 



The !>road,or suspensory ligament, with its accompanying round liga- 

 ment, was noticed at the time the abdomen was opened, and theii 

 divided ends will now he seen lying upon the superior surface of the 

 liver at its anterior margin. It is a thin, double layer of peritoneum, 

 extending from the posterior to the anterior border of the liver, and 

 attached to the diaphragm and anterior wall of the abdomen, as far as 

 the umbilicus. 



The round ligament is a white fibrous cord, the obliterated umbilical 

 vein of foetal life, occupying the lower border of the broad ligament ; 

 it passes under the anterior border of the liver into a longitudinal 

 fissure of its inferior surface, terminating in the walls of the portal 

 vein. 



The lateral ligaments are peritoneal folds, passing from each ex- 

 tremity of the liver to the diaphragm, the left being the longest of 

 the two. 



The coronary ligament is situated along the posterior border of the 

 viscus, between the two lateral ligaments. The two reflections of the 

 peritoneum composing it leave a considerable space between them, 

 so that this portion of the liver is in immediate contact with the dia- 

 phragm, and connected with it by firm cellular attachments. 



To remove the liver, these different ligaments are to be divided ; it 

 is then to be carefully dissected from the diaphragm, cutting across 

 the vena cava where it perforates the muscle, and preserving a portion 

 of it in connection with the liver. Precaution should be taken not to 

 tear the liver or perforate the diaphragm, accidents which are liable 

 to occur. The duodenum, or that portion of it left expressly on ac- 

 count of its connections with the liver, should also be removed together 

 with the ducts which connect it to the gall-bladder and inferior sur- 

 face of the liver. 



Removed from the bod} 7 , the liver presents superiorly a 

 surface uniformly convex, and divided into two portions 

 by the broad ligament, called right and left lobes, the 

 right being much the larger of the two. It can now be 

 seen that the posterior border is rounded, and the anterior 

 sharp and thin ; the posterior border has a depression where 

 it rests upon the vertebral column ; the anterior border is 

 notched at the point of its separation into two lobes, and 

 sometimes also in front of the gall-bladder. 



The inferior surface of the liver is very irregularly con- 

 cave, and is broken up by fissures and lobes. A fissure 

 containing the round ligament divides the under surface, 



