462 



in number and only found on the largest branches of the duct. The 

 vasa aberrantia do not possess any characters which, in the opinion 

 of the author, justify the inference of their being mucus-glands. He 

 regards the little cavities in the coats of the ducts (glands of the 

 ducts) and the vasa aberrantia as reservoirs for containing bile, 

 whilst it becomes inspissated and undergoes other changes. By 

 these cavities in the ducts with thick walls, the bile is brought into 

 close relation with the vessels which ramify so abundantly upon the 

 external surface of the ducts. 



Of the finest branches of the duct, and of their connexion with the 

 cell-containing network. 



Mammalia. In well-injected preparations the smallest branches 

 of the duct can be readily traced up to the secreting cells of the 

 lobules. In most Mammalia, but not in the pig, a few of the finest 

 branches of the duct can be followed for some distance beneath the 

 surface of the lobule. These branches appear to lie amongst the 

 secreting cells, but are not connected with them. They become 

 continuous with tubes of the cell-containing network at a deeper 

 part, while those secreting tubes nearer the surface of the lobule are 

 connected with branches of the duct which do not penetrate. 



In many animals, particularly in the rabbit, and to a less extent 

 in man and in the dog, the smallest branches of the duct are con- 

 nected together so as to form a network, which is continuous with 

 that in which the secreting cells lie. 



In the pig, the small ducts are, as it were, applied to the surface 

 of the lobule ; from these smaller branches come off, which pene- 

 trate the lobule and are immediately connected with an intimate 

 network, which lies partly in the capsule of the lobule itself. This 

 network is continuous with, and may be looked upon as the most 

 superficial portion of, the cell-containing network. In a perfectly 

 normal state it contains only oil-globules and granular matter ; but 

 when the liver is fatty, it is found to contain liver- cells loaded with 

 oil. From such a liver the author has a very beautiful preparation, 

 in which the continuity of the very narrow duct with the wide tubes 

 of the network, distended with large cells containing oil, can be well 

 seen. The duct and the tubes in which the secreting cells lie, both 

 contain a little injection. 



