THE LIVER. 135 



delicate partitions, poorly marked in the normal human liver, 

 which separate the hepatic lobules. The portal tracts are well- 

 marked processes of fibrous tissue passing into the liver with 

 the portal vein, hepatic artery, and bile-ducts, and surround- 



FIG. 5' 



Diagram of portion of a lobule of the liver (Dunham), a, intralobular vein, receiv- 

 ing intralobular capillaries ; b, branches of portal vein ; c, branches of hepatic 

 artery ; d, bile-ducts ; e, lymph-vessel ; /, liver-cells ; g, junction of two lobules. 



ing, accompanying, and supporting these vessels in all their 

 subdivisions and ramifications throughout the organ. These 

 tracts are situated at the junction of three or four lobules, and 

 send lamellae between the adjacent lobules continuous with 

 their interlobular septa, indeed forming the only portions of 

 these septa conspicuous in the normal liver. 



In cross-section the portal tracts are therefore triangular or 

 stellate, and in each may be seen three or more vessels, the 

 largest a branch of the portal vein ; and a branch of the hepatic 

 artery and a bile-duct, which are much smaller. Within the 

 lobules of the liver connective-tissue elements are very scanty, 

 being represented only by the endothelium of the capillaries. 



