Page:Laboratory Manual of the Anatomy of the Rat (Hunt 1924).djvu/93

Rh The caudal surface presents a ventral convexity and a dorsal concavity to the cranial surface of the posterior lobule. The concavity receives also the anterior surface of the right kidney and the accompanying adrenal gland. A ventral strip of the posterior surface is presented to the descending limb of the duodenum. The posterior lobule is approximately pyramidal. The base of the pyramid fastens to the right side of the inferior vena cava. The triangular surface facing the anterior lobule is slightly concave medially, decidedly convex laterally, so that the apex of the pyramid points backward. The renal impression is the concave triangular dorsal surface which receives the ventral side of the right kidney. A spur of the lobule runs dorsal in front of the kidney. Occasionally the posterior lobule is more or less divided into two secondary lobules.

The caudate lobe (Spigelian lobe) comprises two distinct semicircular lobules, the anterior and the posterior lobules. These unite mediad with each other and with the left side of the inferior vena cava, but are separated laterally. As previously mentioned, the caudate lobe is annexed to the right lateral lobe dorsal, and sometimes ventral, to the inferior vena cava. These lobules fit neatly into the lesser curvature, and adjacent surfaces, of the stomach. The anterior lobule is in front of this organ, the posterior behind it, lying in the lesser peritoneal cavity. The esophagus fits into a groove, the esophageal impression, on the caudal surface of the anterior lobule.

The liver and diaphragm are united by several membranous ligaments which radiate outward from the region where the inferior vena cava pierces the diaphragm. The falciform (or suspensory) ligament of the liver lies in the sagittal plane of the body. It connects the diaphragm ventral to the inferior vena cava with the anterior surface