chap, ii.] the liver: its situation. 147 



us, except that it partakes a good deal the ap- 

 pearance of its joint neighbour, and that it is indeed 

 sweet to the palate when eaten. 



Before he proceeds farther, the reader had better 

 consult the plate of a skeleton as to the situation 

 and extent of this important organ (important in a 

 curative point of view), as relates to the midriff, 

 stomach, and kidneys, where it will be seen in- 

 cluded between the squares marked H — M, as inter- 

 sected by the lines numbered 23 — 30. The side 

 view therein presented is necessarily the left or near 

 side, but the other lobe, or right one, is of greater 

 length and more substance ; it touches the right 

 kidney, and its upper surface is contiguous to the 

 diaphragm, which presses upon it at each inspiration, 

 of the lungs. This tendency of the liver to the 

 right side, seems to have been designed by nature 

 to counterbalance the leftward position of the heart, 

 and of the lower part of the stomach ; the pylorus 

 or lower orifice of which is seen at the intersection 

 of the lines K and 26. In a former page (sect. 27.), 

 we took occasion to describe the minute glands with 

 which the external parts, or solids, are furnished, 

 and to advert to the secretory glands, all which are 

 formed by arteries that deposit their contents there- 

 in, and which deposit is again taken up into the veins ; 

 but the liver, the largest of all glands, and a secre- 

 tory organ, differs from the others in one great and 

 signal respect : it is formed of an assemblage of 

 veins only. Its structure, in other respects, is much 

 after the same principle as that of the minor glands. 



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