CHAP. XXXIII.] OF THE SMALLEST DUCTS. 477 



solved, unless the solution is very weak. Acetic acid produces 

 a somewhat similar change, but the cell membrane does not appear 

 to be dissolved. The nuclei always appear more distinctly defined 

 after the addition of the acid; cells which, at first were found to 

 contain no coloured granules, by being soaked for some time in 

 dilute acetic acid exhibited many. 



Of the smallest Branches of the hepatic Duct andof their Connexion 

 with the hepatic Cells. Of the manner in which the ducts commence 

 in the liver, there has been much difference of opinion, and the 

 most conflicting views have 



Fio 228 



been entertained. Mr. Kier- 

 nan considered that the ducts 

 commenced in a lobular plexus 

 although he was never able to 

 prove the existence of such an 

 arrangement. Kolliker gives a 

 diagram to illustrate his view, 

 which supposes that the open 

 ends of the ducts impinge 



against the Columns of the Terminal portion of interlobular duct, with epithe- 

 i ,. ,, ,, Hum within it. Four hepatic cells to show relative 



hepatic Cells at the margin OI size. To illustrate Dr. Handfleld Jones' view. 



the lobule. Dr. Handfield Jones 



traces the ducts to the same point, where, he believes, they ter- 

 minate without having any direct communication with the hepatic 

 cells ; and he considers that the small cells in these ducts are 

 alone concerned in the secretion of the bile (Fig. 228). If this 

 view of the anatomy of the liver be correct, this large organ must 

 be nearly related to the vascular glands.* 



Dr. Beale's researches show that Mr. Kiernan's original view is 

 more nearly allied to the truth. 



In the interlobular fissures numerous finer branches leave the 

 small trunk of the duct and pass towards the secreting cells. In 

 the human subject, many of these may be followed for some 

 distance without giving off branches or anastomosing with each 

 other. These small ducts lie around the small branches of the 

 portal vein, and their course is often tortuous. 



In some animals, particularly in the rabbit, the small ducts 

 anastomose, forming a network round the vein. This net- 



* Vide Kolliker' s Manual of Human Histology, translated by Busk and 

 Huxley ; Sydenham Society, 1853-54. Dr. Carpenter's General and Compara- 

 tive Physiology, 4th edition. 



