455 



work, against the marginal cells of which Kolliker believes the ex- 

 tremities of the ducts impinge, while Handfield Jones holds that the 

 ducts terminate by blind extremities. 



Henle, Gerlach, Hyrtl and Natalis Guillot look upon the finest 

 gall ducts as communicating with intercellular passages. 



Dr. Handfield Jones looks upon the small cells in the extremities 

 of the ducts as the chief agents in the formation of bile, and to the 

 liver-cells he assigns an office totally distinct from this. Busk and 

 Huxley concur in this view, which would place the liver in the cate- 

 gory of vascular glands, spleen, suprarenal capsules, &c. 



The observations of the author have been made upon the livers 

 of several different animals examined under various circumstances. 

 The results of the examination of injected preparations precisely 

 accord with the observations made upon uninjected specimens some 

 months before. The points which he hopes to establish are as 

 follows : 



1. That the hepatic cells lie within an exceedingly delicate tubu- 

 lar network of basement membrane. 



2. That the smallest biliary ducts are directly continuous with 

 this network. 



3. That at the point where the excretory duct joins the tubes 

 which contain the secreting cells, it is very much constricted, 

 being many times narrower than the tube into which it becomes 

 dilated. 



Lobules. With reference to the nature of the lobules of the liver, 

 the author offers some remarks. The only liver in which he has 

 been able to detect distinct lobules, consisting of perfectly cir- 

 cumscribed portions of hepatic structure and separated from each 

 other by fibrous tissue, is that of the pig. In this liver each lobule 

 has a distinct fibrous capsule of its own, and is separated from 

 its neighbours by the branches of the vessels and duct for their 

 supply. 



The lobules of the liver of other animals are not thus separated 

 from each other, but the capillary network and the cell- containing 

 network of one lobule are respectively connected with those of the 

 adjacent lobules at certain points between the fissures in which the 

 vessels and duct lie. In these livers there is not a trace of fibrous 

 tissue between the lobules. 



