ANATOMY. 



posterior and thick, an anterior and thin, 

 margin. Its colour, in the most healthy 

 state, is of a reddish brown ; but it often 

 deviates from this. Its weight, in an adult 

 man of middling stature, is about 3 pounds. 

 It is connected to the diaphragm by four 

 ligaments, viz, 1. ligamentum latum, or 

 suspensorium, which divides the right and 

 left lobes from each other. The front 

 edge of this part contains the fibrous re- 

 mains of the umbilical cord of the foetus, 

 which, assuming the appearance of around 

 rope, is called the round ligament. 2, 3. 

 Ligamenta lateralia, or dextrum, et sinis- 

 trum. 4. Ligamentum coronarium. 



The liver is covered exteriorly by peri- 

 toneum, and there are certain fissures and 

 excavations on its surface. 1. Fossa, for 

 the gall-bladder, in the under surface of 

 the right lobe. 2. Fissure on the anterior 

 thin margin, for the entrance of the umbi- 

 lical vein. 3. Portse, or large transverse 

 notch, at which the blood-vessels enter, 

 and from which the hepatic duct proceeds. 

 4. Notch for the inferior vena cava. 5. 

 Excavation for the bodies of the vertebrae. 

 The liver is composed of a tolerably 

 firm and close substance, consisting of a 

 closely united congeries of different ves- 

 sels. These vessels are the vena porta- 

 rum, the hepatic artery, the hepatic veins, 

 and the biliary ducts. The former vessel 

 carries to the liver the blood which has 

 circulated through the different abdomi- 

 nal viscera. It ramifies in the liver like 

 an artery, and the secretion of the bile is 

 supposed to take place from the blood 

 which it conveys to the liver. The blood 

 of this vein, as well as that brought by the 

 hepatic artery, for the nourishment of the 

 liver, is returned by the large hepatic 

 veins to the inferior vena cava. The 

 small branches of the hepatic duct, which 

 convey the secreted bile from the liver, 

 appear like small yellow pores, when a 

 section of the liver is made, and hence 

 they are called pori biliarii. 



The mesogaster, or little omentum, is 

 attached to the ports; of the liver. The 

 vena portarum, the biliary ducts, the he- 

 patic artery, and the hepatic plexus of 

 nerves, pass along the right side of this 

 process ; and the part in which they are 

 situated is called the capsula Glissoni. 

 Under the edge of this part is an opening, 

 leading to the bag of the great omentum, 

 and called the foramen epiploicum. 



G A LL-B LADDER AXJ) BILIARY DUCTS. 



The gall-bladder is a membranous bag, 

 serving as -a reservoir for the bile. Its 

 shape is that of a pear, being broader at 



one end, and diminishing conically to- 

 wards the opposite extremity. The broad 

 end is called the fundus ; and the small- 

 er part of the neck the viscus. Its ave- 

 rage capacity may be about one ounce. 

 It is firmly bound to the surface of the 

 liver by peritoneum. Its inner surface is 

 elegantly reticulated, and furnishes a 

 viscid mucus that mingles with the bile. 



The hepatic duct is continued in u 

 straight course from the liver to the duo- 

 denum, in which it opens. It passes, how- 

 ever, in an oblique manner, between the 

 coats of the intestine, before opening into 

 its cavity. Hence the contents of the in- 

 testine cannot enter the duct; and the 

 more fully the intestine is distended, the 

 more completely is this prevented by the 

 compression of the duct between the in- 

 testinal tunics. The neck of the gall- 

 bladder is gradually contracted into a 

 small tube, called the cystic duct, which 

 joins the hepatic at an acute angle, after 

 first running parallel with it. The re- 

 mainder of the hepatic duct, after the 

 junction with the cystic, is often called 

 the ductus communis choledochus. The 

 surface of the cystic duct, as well as that 

 of the neck of the gall-bladder, has nu- 

 merous small folds of the internal mem- 

 brane, which must retard and obstruct 

 the course of the bile. 



Pancreas Is a gland of the conglome- 

 rate kind ; that is, composed of numerous 

 minute portions, united by cellular sub- 

 stance. It is connected by one end to the 

 commencement of the duodenum, and ex 

 tends across the vertebrae, behind the les- 

 ser arch of the stomach, to the spleen. 

 Its length is about six inches, its breadth 

 one and a half, and its thickness half an 

 inch. 



Each of the small molecules which com- 

 pose this gland has an excretory duct ; 

 these unite together into larger and larger 

 trunks, and the main tube of all runs 

 along the centre of the gland, and joins 

 the ductus communis choledochus just 

 before that duct opens into the duodenum. 



Spleen. This part, which in common 

 language is called the milt, is a soft and 

 livid mass, interposed between the great 

 end of the stomach and the diaphragm. It 

 weighs about six or seven ounces. It 

 consists of a congeries of cells filled with 

 blood, as the arteries and veins of the 

 organ communicate with them. It is 

 closely connected to the great end of the 

 stomach by vascular ramifications, which 

 the splenic vessels send to the stomach, 

 It has a concave and convex surface ; an. 

 anterior and posterior extremity ; and :u 

 external peritoneal covering. 



