ABDOMINAL CAVITY 



5 2 9 



which indicates the area of contact with the under surface of 

 the right lobe of the liver, occupies almost the whole of the 

 upper two-thirds of the anterior surface, and corresponds to 

 the upper inclined plane. Over this district the kidney is some- 

 times sunk deeply into the liver. The right suprarenal gland, 

 which rests, as a rule, on the upper extremity of the right 

 kidney, extends downwards, for a very short distance, on the 

 anterior surface of the organ between it and the liver. With 

 the exception of this narrow strip, immediately adjoining the 



Superior mesenteric 

 vessels 



Ureter 



FIG. 205. Right Kidney and Duodenum. 



superior extremity, the hepatic impression on the anterior 

 surface of the kidney is covered by peritoneum. The colic 

 impression corresponds to the inferior inclined plane, and 

 sometimes it exhibits a marked degree of obliquity. The 

 right colic flexure and the commencement of the transverse 

 colon are in contact with this area. The posterior surfaces 

 of these portions of great intestine are devoid of peritoneum, 

 and bound to the kidney by areolar tissue. The duodenal 

 impression^ or area of contact with the second part of the 

 duodenum, is in the neighbourhood of the hilus, and varies 

 greatly both in position and extent (Fig. 205). 



Anterior Surface of the Left Kidney. The left suprarenal 



VOL. i 34 



