RELATIONS OF THE LIVER. 865 



separated from the transverse fissure by the caudate lobe. It is prolonged 

 upwards in an oblique direction to the posterior border of the liver, and 

 may be said to join behind the Spigelian lobe with the fissure for the 

 ductus venosus. It is at the bottom of this fossa that the blood leaves the 

 liver by the hepatic veins, which end here in the vena cava. The sub- 

 stance of the liver in some cases unites around the vena cava, and encloses 

 that vessel in a canal. 



The last remaining fissure, or rather fossa (fossa cystis fellese), is that 

 for the lodgment of the gall-bladdar ; it is sometimes continued into a 

 slight notch on the anterior margin of the liver. 



Two shallow impressions are seen on the under surface of the right lobe ; 

 one in front (impressio colica), corresponding with the hepatic flexure of 

 the colon ; and one behind (impressio renalis), corresponding with the right 

 kidney. 



The anterior border of the liver, a thin, free, and sharp margin, is the 

 most movable part of the gland. Opposite the longitudinal fissure the 

 anterior border presents a notch, and, to the right of this, there is often 

 another slight notch opposite the fund as of the gall-bladder. 



The posterior border of the liver, which is directed backwards and up- 

 wards, is thick and rounded on the right side, but becomes gradually 

 thinner towards the left. It is the most fixed part of the organ, and is 

 firmly attached by areolar tissue to the diaphragm. This border of the 

 liver is curved opposite to the projection of the vertebral column, and has 

 a deep groove for the reception of the ascending vena cava. 



Of the two lateral borders of the liver, the right is placed lower down, 

 and is thick and obtuse ; whilst the left is the thinnest part of the gland, 

 is raised to a higher level, and reaches the cardiac part of the stomach. 



Ligaments. The ligaments of the liver, like its lobes and fissures, are 

 commonly described as five, but it seems scarcely necessary to give distinct 

 names to so many parts which are only folds of membrane. One of these, 

 the coronary ligament, is the fold of peritoneum by which the posterior border 

 of the liver is attached to the diaphragm : this border lies in contact with 

 the diaphragm, in the greater part of its extent, between the upper and 

 under layers of the peritoneal fold ; but toward the two extremities of the 

 organ these layers come into contact, and form two short mesenteries the 

 right and left triangular ligaments, of which the left is the longer and more 

 distinct. Another of these so-called ligaments is the broad, falciform, or 

 suspensory ligament, a wide thin membrane, composed of two layers of 

 peritoneum, closely united together. By one of its margins it is connected 

 with the under surface of the diaphragm, and with the posterior surface of 

 the sheath of the right rectus muscle of the abdomen as low as the 

 umbilicus ; by another it is attached along the convex surface of the liver, 

 from its posterior border to the notch in its anterior border : the remaining 

 margin is free, and contains between its layers the round ligament, a dense 

 fibrous cord, the remnant of the umbilical vein of the foetus, which ascends 

 from the umbilicus, within the lower edge of the broad ligament, and 

 enters the longitudinal fissure on the under surface. These structures 

 have been already referred to (p. 827). 



Position with regard to neighbouring parts. Occupying the right hypo- 

 chondriac region, and extending across the epigastric region into a part of 

 the left hypochondrium, the liver is accurately adapted to the vault of the 

 diaphragm above, and is covered, to a small extent in front, by the abdominal 

 parietes. The right portion reaches higher beneath the ribs than the left, 



3 L 



