326 DIGESTION. 



The hepatic duct divides and subdivides in a manner 

 very like that of the portal vein and hepatic artery, the 

 larger branches being lined by cylindrical, and the smaller 



Fig. 87 * 



p 



by small polygonal epithelium. The exact arrangement of 

 its terminal branches, however, and their relation to the 

 liver-cells have not been clearly made out, or at least, have 

 not been agreed upon by different observers. The chief 

 theories on the subject are three in number : 



1 . That the terminal branches of the hepatic duct form 

 an interlobular network, which abuts on the outermost 

 cells of a lobule, but does not enter the inside of the 

 lobule, or only for a little way. 



2. That minute branches begin in the lobules between 

 the cells, not enclosing them. 



3. That the ultimate branches begin in the lobules and 

 enclose hepatic cells. 



* Fig. 87. Capillary network of the lobules of the rabbit's liver 

 (from Kolliker), \ 5 . The figure is taken from a very successful injection 

 of the hepatic veins, made by Harting : it shows nearly the whole of two 

 lobules, and parts of three others ; p, portal branches running in the 

 interlobular spaces ; h, hepatic veins penetrating and radiating from 

 the centre of the lobules. 



