The body : an introduction to physiology / by Ronald Campbell Macfie.

  • Macfie, Ronald Campbell, 1867-1931
Date:
[1927]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The body : an introduction to physiology / by Ronald Campbell Macfie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CHAPTER VII ORGANS AND GLANDS, LIVER, ETC. An organ may be defined as a conglomeration of tissues, structurally distinct, and, in a measure, separate from the rest of the body, which performs special mechanical and chemical functions useful for the organism. Those organs whose special function is secretion are classed as glands. Some organs we have already described—the heart which propels the blood, and the lungs which are collecting-centres of oxygen, the brain with its motor and sensory cells and fibres, and the digestive organs which prepare food and fuel for the cells of the body, while in connection with the latter we have mentioned various glands. There remain still several organs and glands which we must briefly discuss. The largest and heaviest organ in the body is the liver. It lies in the upper part of the abdomen, tucked under the lower ribs of the right side. 'Microscopically it consists of little bunches of cells, each about the size of a pin’s head. The bunches are tightly packed, giving the liver a firm, compact structure. Through the substance of the liver runs the portal vein, which conveys the blood from the abdominal viscera to the heart. Dividing into two branches as it runs, it forms a fine framework of capillaries for the lobules. The capillaries are imperfect, and the blood actually oozes out so that the cells are given a blood bath. Functionally the liver is a gland of great chemical activity : every cell is a busy chemical laboratory. One chemical function of the busy organ is to form bile, a yellowish-greenish fluid, containing 86 per cent, water and 14 per cent, solids. The solids consist of bile salts