134 ELEMENTS OF MAMMALIAN ANATOMY. 



The bile secreted by the liver passes through the 

 several ducts from the various lobes, to the main hepatic 

 duct, which may be seen by cutting away the liver from 

 the right side of the gall-cyst, and carefully picking off 

 the peritoneum ensheathing the vessels between the 

 Spigelian lobe and the cystic duct. The latter is some- 

 what convoluted in its course from the deeply imbedded 

 end of the cyst, to a point on the duodenum about three 

 centimeters from the pylorus. The main hepatic duct 



' , v v 



A 



V 





FIG. 65. PHOTOMICROGRAPH OF SECTION OF THE LIVER. X 300 



b, Blood-vessel. 



joins the cystic duct (Fig. 58) near its middle. The 

 common duct thus formed is the ductus communis 

 choledochus. When the bile is secreted faster than it 

 is permitted to enter the intestine, it passes backward 

 from the ductus communis choledochus into the cyst. 



The bile aids in the absorption of the fats by the 

 villi, and renders the chyme alkaline so that the pan- 

 creatic juice may act more strongly. The formation of 

 red blood-corpuscles takes place in the liver of the 



