An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinctLydekker, Richard
Science
An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinct
Lydekker, Richard
Mammals
When the two main parts into which the liver is thus divided are entire,
as in Man, the Ruminants, and Cetacea, they may be spoken of as the
right and left lobes; when fissured, as the right and left segments
of the liver, reserving the term lobe for the subdivisions. This will
involve no ambiguity, for the terms right and left lobe will no longer
be used for divisions of the more complex form of liver. In the large
majority of mammals each segment is further divided by a fissure, more
or less deep, extending from the free towards the attached border, which
are called right and left lateral fissures (Fig. 22, _rlf_ and _llf_).
When these are more deeply cut than the umbilical fissure (_u_), the
organ has that tripartite or trefoil-like form just spoken of, but it
is easily seen that it is really divided into four regions or lobes,
those included between the lateral fissures being the right and left
central (_rc_ and _lc_) separated by the umbilical fissure, and those
beyond the lateral fissures on each side being the right and left lateral
lobes (_rl_ and _ll_). The essentially bipartite character of the organ
and its uniformity of construction throughout the class are thus not
lost sight of, even in the most complex forms. The left segment of the
liver is rarely complicated to any further extent, except in some cases
by minor or secondary fissures marking off small lobules, generally
inconstant and irregular, and never worthy of any special designation.
On the other hand, the right segment is usually more complex. The
gall-bladder, when present, is always attached to the under surface of
the right central lobe, sometimes merely applied to it, in other cases
deeply embedded in its substance. In many instances the fossa in which
it is sunk is continued to the free margin of the liver as an indent, or
even a tolerably deep fissure (_cf_). The portal fissure (_p_), through
which the portal vein and hepatic artery enter and the bile-duct emerges
from the liver, crosses the right central lobe transversely, near the
attached border of the liver. The right lateral lobe always has the
great vena cava (_vc_) either grooving its surface or tunnelling through
its substance near the inner or left end of its attached border; and a
prolongation of this lobe to the left, between the vein and the portal
fissure, sometimes forming a mere flat track of hepatic substance, but
more often a prominent tongue-shaped process, is the so-called “Spigelian
lobe” (_s_). From the under surface, of the right lateral lobe a portion
is generally partially detached by a fissure, and called the “caudate
lobe” (_c_). In Man this lobe is almost obsolete, but in most mammals it
is of considerable magnitude, and has very constant and characteristic
relations. It is connected by an isthmus at the left (narrowest or
attached) end to the Spigelian lobe, behind which isthmus the vena cava
is always in relation to it, channelling through or grooving its surface.
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