The spleen is of an irregular figure, and dark purple colour, situated at the left side of the abdomen, close up under the ribs, as the liver is on the right, attached at the top to the diaphragm, and by its side to the stomach; it is of a peculiarly soft, yielding, spongy structure, composed almost entirely of vessels which admit of being readily emptied, or as readily distended with blood, by which it is capable of accommodating itself to the neighbouring parts: the use of the spleen remains in obscurity up to this time.

The People’s Medical Journal, and Family Physician By Thomas Harrison Yeoman, Page No: 170.