206 The Alligator and Its Allies 



vein could not be demonstrated. After entering 

 the liver, the portal, of course, breaks up into capil- 

 laries, and the blood thus distributed is re-col- 

 lected by the capillaries of the hepatic veins above 

 mentioned. 



The internal epigastric veins, ep, are, perhaps, 

 the most conspicuous vessels of the postcaval 

 system. When the ventral abdominal wall of 

 the animal is removed, they may be seen extending 

 forward from the pelvic region, on each side of the 

 body, to enter the posterior edge of the liver. The 

 epigastric of the right side enters the large or right 

 lobe of the liver, where it breaks up into capillaries ; 

 the left epigastric sends its main branch into the 

 left lobe of the liver, but also sends a branch over 

 to enter the right lobe. 



Following the epigastrics caudad, they are seen 

 to receive vessels from nearly all parts of the 

 posterior region of the body. The left epigastric, 

 which extends across the ventral side of the stom- 

 ach, receives from that organ four or five branches, 

 g 1 ; while the farther removed right epigastric 

 receives only one or two branches from the stom- 

 ach. Posterior to these gastric veins the epigas- 

 trics receive one or more veins, b, from the body 

 wall and skin. Posterior, again, to the last- 

 named veins, each epigastric receives, in the pelvic 

 region, a large vein, the iliac, il, which receives, in 

 turn, a vein from the pelvis, pi, and continues down 

 the thigh and lower leg to the foot as the femoral, 



