Metastases occur in the liver under the same conditions under which they take place in the lungs. They are, however, much less frequent in the former than in the latter and in the spleen; and the so-called hepatic abscess, more especially consequent upon important surgical operations, wounds and injuries of the cranium, is found much more rarely than has been hitherto supposed. Besides, we always simultaneously discover deposits in other organs, particularly in the lungs and the spleen. We are unacquainted with the special conditions which give rise to a predominant deposit in the liver, with the exception of those cases in which the source of the poisoning of the blood is within the compass of the portal system.

The deposit in the liver is also caused by the deposition or exudation of fibrin through the coats of the capillaries into the tissue, or by the coagulation of the blood in the capillary rete of vessels. In both cases metamorphoses may ensue which vary according to the nature of the morbid essence absorbed into the blood; occasional induration and shrivelling are induced, with consequent obliteration of the parenchyma and the capillaries; more frequently purulent or ichorous fusion result, and then either suppurative inflammation of the surrounding parenchyma is established, or a solution of the coats of the capillary vessels is effected.

The deposit presents, as in the lungs, the appearance of a circumscribed nodulated accumulation, of a dark-red or brownish-red color, which, as it approaches the state of fusion, is converted into a dirty yellow or greenish color.

The deposit has a rounded form, varying in size from that of a pea to that of a walnut; it is found in considerable numbers, and is commonly seated in the peripheral layer, where it gives rise to inflammation of the hepatic peritoneal lamina. This is a guide to distinguish it from the abscess which originates in idiopathic inflammation of the liver; the diagnosis is also aided by the acute course of the affection, by its originating in another morbid affection, by the typhoid symptoms, by the occurrence of similar processes in other organs, more especially in the lungs and the spleen, by the disorganization of the blood, and the resulting jaundice.