THE LIVER. 



295 



equal size, and intermingle in such a manner as to form an envel- 

 oping network about the blood capillaries (Gitterfasern ; Kupffer ; 

 Oppel, 91 ; vid. Fig. 235). A few coarser fibers (radiate fibers, 

 Kupffer, 73) seem to enter in a less degree into the formation of the 

 sheath around the blood capillaries ; they also extend from the 

 periphery" toward the center of the lobule and form a coarse reticu- 

 lum, the meshes of which are drawn out radially. The radiate 

 fibers are less prominent in man, but are numerous and well devel- 

 oped in animals (rat, dog). With what exuberance the intralobular 

 connective tissue may develop, is seen in the accompanying sketch 

 of a sturgeon's liver, which is taken from one of Kupffer's prepara- 



Connective-tissue 

 fibers. 



t 



Fig. 236. Connective tissue from liver of sturgeon. At a is an open space from which 

 the hepatic cells were mechanically removed during treatment. 



tions. The Gitterfasern of Kupffer are, as has been shown by F. 

 P. Mall, reticular fibrils, presenting the same characteristics as similar 

 fibrils found in other regions. 



Certain peculiar cells the so-called stellate cells of Kupffer 

 (76) occur in the lobule, and are seen only after a special 

 method of treatment. They are uniformly distributed, of differ- 

 ent shapes, elongated, and end in two or three pointed projec- 

 tions. They are smaller than the hepatic cells, and contain one or 

 two nuclei. 



In a recent communication Kupffer (99) states that the stellate 

 cells belong to the endothelium of the intralobular capillaries of the 

 portal vein. These capillaries, which are, according to their devel- 

 opment, sinusoids (Minor.), form in all probability a syncytial 

 lining (Kupffer) consisting of thin continuous lamellae, the proto- 

 plasm appearing as a network of threads, with nucleated masses 

 of protoplasm at nodal points of this network. In places where 

 this protoplasm is present in larger quantity and contains round or 



