394 



USES OF THE LIVEK-DUCTLESS GLANDS. 



FIG. 130. Lobules of the liver, interlobular vessels and intralobular veins 



(Sappey). 



1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 4, lobules ; 2, 2. 2, 2, intralobular veins injected with white ; 5, 5, 

 5, 5, 5, interlobular vessels filled with a dark injection. 



branches of the artery itself, to the walls of the hepatic veins, and a very rich 

 net- work of branches to the hepatic duct. In its course, the hepatic artery 



also sends branches 

 to the capsule of 

 Glisson (capsular 

 branches), which, 

 with branches of 

 the portal vein, 

 go to form the so- 

 called vaginal plex- 

 us. From these ves- 

 sels, a few arterial 

 branches are given 

 off, which pass be- 

 tween the lobules. 

 The hepatic artery 

 can not be followed 

 beyond the inter- 

 lobular vessels. The 

 terminal branches 



of the hepatic artery are not directly connected with the radicles of the 

 hepatic veins, but they empty into small branches of the portal vein within 

 the capsule of Glisson. 



Interlobular Vesseh. Branches of the portal vein, coming from the ter- 

 minal ramifications of the vessel within the capsule and from the branches 

 in the walls of the capsule, are distributed between the lobules, constituting 

 the greatest part of the so-called interlobular plexus. These are situated 

 between the lobules and surround them; each vessel, however, giving off 

 branches to two or three lobules, and never to one alone. They do not 

 anastomose, and consequently they are not in the form of a true plexus. The 

 diameter of these interlobular vessels varies between -j^Vo an( i TITO f an i ncn 

 (17 and 34 //,). In this distribution, the blood-vessels are followed by branches 

 of the duct, which are much fewer and smaller, measuring only -^-^ of an 

 inch (10 /u,), and some, even, have been measured that are not more than 

 so * 00 of an inch (8 /x) in diameter. 



Lobular Vessels. From the interlobular veins, eight or ten branches are 

 given off which penetrate the lobule. As the interlobular vessels are situated 

 between different lobules, each one sends branches into two and sometimes 

 three of these lobules ; so that, as far as vascular supply is concerned, these 

 divisions of the liver are never absolutely distinct. 



After passing from the interlobular plexus into the lobules, the vessels 

 immediately break up into an elongated net- work of capillaries, -^oW ^ 2 Ao 

 of an inch (8 to 11 /,) in diameter, which occupy the lobules with a true 

 plexus. These vessels are very abundant. The blood, having been distrib- 

 uted in the lobules by this lobular plexus, is collected by three or four venous 

 radicles into a single central vessel situated in the long axis of the lobule, 



