FERROL, Spain (AP) _ The coroner of this northwestern port city on Saturday inaugurated a monument to the liver, calling it ″the silent and unselfish organ.″

Coroner Jaime Quintanilla Ulla, who is also Ferrol’s mayor, unveiled a liver-shaped $3,500 granite sculpture as local poet Laura Perez Landeira read ″Ode to the Liver″ by the late Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

In his address, Quintanilla Ulla said that in his years as physician and coroner, he saw ″hundreds of these organs tortured by cocktails, wine, tranquilizers and other medications.

″But everyday, the poor little liver is at work neutralizing and purifying everything we take in.″

Funds for the monument were provided by the Ferrol City Council and a local bank.