336 REPTILIA. 



"When the skin is taken off the abdomen and abdominal muscles, we 

 find what may be called false cartilages; that is, a middle cartilage 

 continued from the lower end of the sternum to the ossa pubis, which 

 might be called an ' abdominal sternum ' or false sternum : from this, 

 there are, going out laterally, a great many cartilages like those from 

 the true sternum, but not so large ; these have muscles between them 

 like intercostals. There is in the body of the muscle a white substance 

 like extravasated blood, but the blood of this animal is red. The peri- 

 toneum is very thin, and is loosely connected to the abdominal muscles ; 

 and what is very remarkable is, that it only covers those viscera that 

 are below the great arch of the stomach and lower edge of the right 

 lobe of the liver; so that there is only the posterior surface of the 

 stomach covered by it, as in the bird, and the lower concave surface of 

 the right lobe of the liver, and lower surface of the gall-bladder. From, 

 or to, these three parts, it is reflected to or from the abdominal muscles, 

 so that the whole convex surface of the liver is not covered by the 

 peritoneum. This surface of the liver adheres to the parts before and 

 above it, which in the human is the diaphragm ; and on the inside of 

 the abdominal muscles in a young one, there was a capsula on the 

 anterior surface of both lobes, which neither communicated with the 

 peritoneum nor pleura ; this is a continuation of the pleura ; therefore 

 the liver might be said to be in the thorax. 



All the anterior surface of the stomach adheres to the liver by loose 

 sacculous adhesions to the left side of the gall-bladder and abdominal 

 muscles. This adhesion is by a very thick layer of fat. When the 

 lower edge of the liver comes in contact with the abdominal muscles 

 there, the most internal lamella of those muscles becomes tendinous, 

 and a thin lamella of this tendon passes on each side of the liver. The 

 inferior lamella is fixed at the root of the liver, but the superior is lost 

 insensibly in the convex surface of the liver ; these two lamellge are not 

 a uniform tendinous fascia, but are fasciculated, and some parts are 

 only membranous. 



The lamella which passes under the concave surface of the left lobe 

 of the liver adheres in some places to the anterior surface of the stomach ; 

 but I believe it does not in every part (this is the adhesion we spoke of 

 when on the adhesion of the stomach). The other surface of this lamella 

 that is next to the liver, does not adhere to the whole of the left lobe 

 of the liver, but only round the circumference of that lobe. The liver, 

 thus enclosed by the tendon of an abdominal muscle, must be influenced 

 by the action of the muscle, viz. pulled down when the muscle acts. 

 By this adhesion of the liver all round its edge to the whole cavity of 

 the abdomen, it makes a kind of diaphragm, which is indeed the only 



