HTMAN ANATOMY. 



between the base and the opposite side of the lobule, by the confluence of the capil- 

 laries, which, after the central vein is formed, open directly into the latter at 

 lower planes. In those lobules which form part of the exterior of the liver the 

 central vein ascends almost to the free surface ; otherwise its commencement is 

 separated from the periphery by about one-half the thickness of the lobule. Im- 

 mediately on emerging from the lobule the central vessel opens into the sublobnlar 

 rein, which runs generally at right angles to its intralobular tubularies and along and 

 beneath the bases of the lobules, the outlines of which are often seen through the 

 walls of the vein. The channels for the sublobular veins are thus surrounded by 

 the bases of the lobules, a single central vein returning the blood from each. The 



Hepatic artery 



Portal vein 



Bile-duct 



Central (intra- 

 lobular) vein 



Interlohular 

 connective 

 tissue 



Section of uninjected liver, showing ^i-tu-ral arrangement of lobules, interlobular ami intralobular vessels. X 120. 



sublobular veins join to form larger vessels, which in turn unite and constitute the 

 branches c.f the hepatic veins. 



The Liver-Cells. The meshes of the interlobnlar capillary net-work are oc- 

 cupied l>v the hep.-itic cells, the bile-capillaries, and a meagre amount of connective 

 tissue. The cells are arranged as cords or trabecuhe which conform in their general 

 disposition to the intercapillarv spaces, which they completely till. In a sense, the 

 entire lobule consists , ,f a s ( ,lid mass of hepatic cells elaborately tunnelled by the 

 radially coursing capillaries and their short anastomosing branches, the proportion 

 of the space oo npied bv the vascular channels to that filled by the cells being ap- 

 proximately as one to three. When isolated, the liver-cells present a polygonal 



