478 



LIVER. 



[CHAP, xxxni. 



work is continuous with the network of the lobule in which the cells 

 lie. In the human subject, and in most mammalia, the small ducts 

 do not form a network in this manner, but pass off at once to the 

 cell containing network with which they are continuous. In the 

 pig, the smallest branches of the duct penetrate the capsule of the 

 lobule at various points, and immediately become connected with 

 an intimate network which lies immediately beneath it, and partly 

 within its substance. This network may be regarded as the most 

 superficial portion of the cell-containing network, and where the 

 liver is fatty it contains cells distended with oil globules. 



In the human liver, and in those of most animals, except the 

 pig, some of the smallest branches of the duct pass for a short dis- 

 tance beneath the surface of the lobule, and become continuous 

 with some of the branches of the cell-containing network in that 

 situation. In a cursory examination these narrow ducts appear to 

 lie amongst the cells without being connected with them. The 

 greater number of branches, however, join the cell-containing net- 

 work round the margin of the fissures. 



Near to the point where the duct joins the cell-containing 

 network it becomes very much narrowed, and is often not more 



than 



or 3-^0 f an i ncn i n diameter, and even less, in 



the uninjected state. Several of the narrowest ducts in the pig are 

 represented in Fig. 229. 



a. Small branch of interlobular duct pig. b. Most superficial part of cell-containing network, with 



f the duct. Magnified 215 



cells filled with oil, and free oil globules, c. Narrowest portions o 



The shaded parts show the points to which the injection reached. After Dr. Beale. 



215 diameters. 



Fig. 230 represents some of the small ducts and a part of the 

 cell-containing network at the surface of a lobule in the human 



