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THE PHYSIOLOGY OF DIGESTION AND ABSORPTION 



its branches run directly between the lobules, and are called in- 

 terlobular veins. These direct subdivisions of the portal vein 

 are not the only interlobular veins, however. Those branches 

 of this vein which were given off to the capsule of Glisson, 

 having received the corresponding branches from the hepatic 

 artery, also here run between the lobules and make part of the 



FIG. 44. Diagram of the portal vein. 



(pv) arising in the alimentary tract and spleen (s) and carrying the blood from 

 these organs to the liver. (From Brubaker after Yeo.) 



interlobular plexus. The interlobular veins, thus surrounding 

 the lobules and having lobules on either side of them, giving off 

 in both directions branches (lobular branches) which penetrate 

 the lobules, to break up into capillaries. The capillaries finally 

 converge to three or four small radicles, which in turn unite to 

 form a small vein in the center of the lobule. This is the in- 



