STRUCTURE OF THE LIVER 



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from the portal vein and from the hepatic artery, while the blood is returned 

 from it into the vena cava inferior by the hepatic veins. Its secretion, the bile, 

 is conveyed from it by the Hepatic duct, either directly into the intestine, or, 

 when digestion is not going on, into the cystic duct, and thence into the gall- 



FIG. 270. Portion of a Lobule of Liver, a, Bile capillaries between liver cells, the network in 

 which is well seen; b, blood capillaries. X 350. (Klein and Noble Smith.) 



bladder, where it accumulates until required. The portal vein, hepatic artery, 

 and hepatic duct branch together throughout the liver, while the hepatic veins 

 and their tributaries run by themselves. The interstices of these vessels are 

 filled by the liver cells. 



Structure of the Liver. The liver is made up of small roundish 

 or oval portions called lobules, each of which is about ^V of an inch (about 



FIG. 271. Hepatic Cells and Bile Capillaries, from the Liver of a Child Three Months Old. 

 Both figures represent fragments of a section carried through the periphery of a lobule. The red 

 corpuscles of the blood are recognized by their circular contour; vp, corresponds to an interlobular 

 vein in immediate proximity with which are the epithelial cells of the biliary ducts. (E. Hering.) 



i mm.) in diameter, and includes the minute hepatic artery and hepatic 

 duct. The hepatic cells, which form the glandular or secreting part of the 

 liver, are of spheroidal form, somewhat polygonal from mutual pressure, about 



