478 



YEIXS. 



hepatic artery and hepatic duct throughout its substance. Of these two branches 

 the right is the larger but the shorter of the two. The portal vein is about four 

 inches in length, and, whilst contained in the lesser omentum, lies behind and 

 between the hepatic duct and artery, the former being to the right, the latter to 

 the left. These structures are accompanied by filaments of the hepatic plexus 

 and numerous lymphatics, surrounded by a quantity of loose areolar tissue, the 



Fig. 246. Portal Vein and its Branches. 



capsule of Glisson, and placed between the layers of the lesser omentum. The 

 vena portse receives the gastric and cystic veins ; the latter vein sometimes ter- 

 minates in the right branch of the vena portse. Within the liver, the portal vein 

 receives the blood from the branches of the hepatic artery. 



