784 
the hepatic cells a different aspect is seen. Over the centre of each 
cellular column (figs. 13, 15, 16, 17), a somewhat thicker capillary is 
found than any of those toward the lateral margins, which along its 
whole course gives off rectangular branches, shorter or longer as the 
case may be, that frequently conjoin with the rami from other cen- 
trally situated capillaries, and form the polygonal figures seen in the 
first variety of sections. 
Near the central portal vein of a lobule, these capillaries, which 
we will distinguish by the name of central columnar bile capillary, 
begin on the cells immediately bordering the vein by a blind ending 
(figs. 15, 16), and descending toward the interlobular regions gather 
lateral branches as they go, as well as slightly increasing in calibre 
as they descend, finally debouching in the coarse gall capillary plexus 
that is situated immediately adjacent to the inter-lobular margin; and 
these coarse capillaries in their turn empty into the gall ducts, usually 
by a gradual increase in size, for after reaching a certain calibre they 
become lined with cylindrical epithelium, and assume the well-known 
characteristics of these canals. 
The biliary canaliculi present an endless variety of shapes and 
forms. In the moderately thick sections in which it is best to study 
them, they appear as rounded tubes, thickly set with short spiculae, 
uneven projections, or hammer-headed and club-shaped figures, some 
longer, some shorter, many with a knob or double ending, all projecting 
into the substance of the liver cells and ending in a manner presently 
to be described. Many other offshoots come off from the central 
columnar tubes, which run for longer distances, are much thicker than 
the knobbed or spiked processes, and after developing upon themselves 
other arms and projections, also end blindly upon the liver cells. 
Endless varieties of combinations and crossings with rounded and 
ball-shaped endings are seen in every section. Besides these shorter 
branches, longer ones are found to cross from the main stems and 
form continuous anastomoses with the arms from other capillaries; 
thus the whole capillary system of the lobule becomes united, and 
the gall secreted by one set of cells may find its exit through any 
portion of the system of the lobule. 
This ‘anastomosing of the entire system of the lobule is by no 
means an easy matter to ascertain with certainty, as it is only oc- 
casionally in a few fortuitous sections that it is made apparent. Thin 
sections never show it, but when the specimen is thicker and the 
angle of the section is exactly correct, it is very readily demonstrable. 
This opinion, we are aware, is contrary to the recent researches of 
