5183. It has been granted me to observe the circles of those who belong to the province of the Liver, and this for the space of an hour. The circles were gentle, flowing about variously in accordance with the working of this viscus, and they affected me with much delight. Their working is diverse, but is usually orbicular. That their working is diverse is represented also in the functions of the liver, which are diverse; for the liver draws in blood and separates it, pouring the better part into the veins, sending away that of a middle quality into the hepatic duct, and leaving the viler part for the gall bladder. This is the case in adults; but in embryos the liver receives the blood from the womb of the mother, and purifies it, insinuating the purer part into the veins, that it may flow into the heart by a shorter way, thus acting as a guard before the heart.
