92 Structure of the Human Liver, — [Nonthls Microscona! 
blished, as soon as the pressure was removed again by creating a 
new vacuum around the organ. The injection was so perfect, that 
even several lymphatic glands in the vicinity of the transverse 
fissure, and which receive their afferent vessels from the liver, were 
beautifully injected. As the orifice of the canula, inserted into the 
hepatic duct, was only 35 of an inch in diameter, the pressure 
exerted by the atmosphere and the gravity of the liquid must have 
been exceedingly small, which was furthermore indicated by the 
very slow descent of the liquid. I therefore hardly supposed that 
a rupture of the biliary tubules, and consequently an extravasation 
of the liquid into the parenchyma—by which the liquid might have 
entered the lymphatics—could have taken place. The last doubt, 
however, disappeared when I examined portions of the capsule from 
the surface of the liver under the microscope. Here, in some places, 
small portions of the parenchyma in which the network of “ biliary 
tubules” was well injected with Prussian blue, were left. Arising 
from these, I observed a beautiful network of lymphatics, also in- 
jected blue, but more faintly than the “biliary tubules” (Fig. 5). 
When such a preparation is examined with an objective of + of an 
inch focal length, the transition from the “ biliary tubules” into the 
lymphatics can be distinctly seen. By the thinness of the capsule 
in this case, I was enabled to make even an examination with an 
objective of +; of an inch focal length. The lymphatics in the 
capsule on the surface of the liver of the sheep form a network of 
large capillary vessels, which converge to a number of centres where 
they join the larger vessels. Their larger size distinguishes them 
from the “biliary tubules.” 
To obtain still more conclusive proofs, I repeated the above 
experiments with some slight modifications, and the results I ob- 
tained in every instance were very satisfactory. I repeated the 
above experiment also with chrome yellow instead of Prussian blue ; 
but as the former—consisting of fine granules—is not as fine as the 
latter, it required that the removal of the pressure of the atmo- 
sphere from the open lymphatics was carried to a greater extent, 
before the yellow colour appeared within them. 
The phenomenon of a liquid, injected into the hepatic duct and 
returning by the lymphatics, has been noticed by most of the 
special investigators of the liver, as has already been mentioned. 
Without any further attempt to trace it to its source by micro- 
scopical examination, the majority of them were contented to attri- 
bute it to a rupture of the finest branches of the hepatic duct, 
causing an extravasation by which some of the finer lymphatics 
were ruptured, and an opportunity offered to the liquid to pass from 
one kind of vessels into the other. For my own part, I believe 
that extravasations do not occur as frequently as is generally sup- 
posed if the proper precautions are taken. They certainly take 
