QHAPTER XIII 



THE LIVER AND SPLEEN 



Structure of the Liver. The liver, the upper surface 

 of which is convex, lying immediately under the dome of the 

 diaphragm, is a large dark-red organ about fifty ounces in 

 weight. It is covered by a layer of peritoneum, closely 

 adherent to it, by which it is attached to the diaphragm and 

 other structures. It is divided into two parts or lobes, a right 



and a left. The right 

 lobe, which is much 

 larger and thicker than 

 the left, is less distinctly 

 divided by grooves or 

 fissures on its under 

 surface, giving rise to 

 three more small lobes 

 between the right and 

 left, so that there are 

 five altogether. The 



most conspicuous of the 

 fissures on the under 



Fin. 68. The liver turned up and viewed from 



below. 



a, inferior vena cava, overlapped by a small portion surface IS Called the 



of the liver; /-, portal vein; c, bile duct; d, portal fissure . At the 



hepatic artery ; /, gall-bladder. The hepatic * . _ 



vein is not seen. P r * al faim three 



vessels pass into the 



liver : the hepatic artery, which brings arterial blood 

 from the aorta ; the portal vein, which brings venous blood 

 from the stomach, intestines, spleen, and pancreas ; and 

 the bile duct, which carries the bile from the liver to the 

 duodenum. As these vessels are traced inwards, they gradually 



