CONNECTIVE TISSUE OF THE LIVER. 31 



The statement which has been made, that perivascular lymphatics can 

 be injected in the liver of the Rabbit, is incorrect, and I have even 

 found that no perivascular spaces can be demonstrated in that animal ; 

 a very important fact in opposition to their occurrence in the livers 

 of others. 



THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE OF THE LIVER. The liver possesses 

 superficial and deep fibrillar connective tissue. The former con- 

 stitutes the capsule of the liver, the latter the sheath of Glisson. 

 The capsule of the liver is a membrane, varying in thickness 

 at different points, but usually of such tenuity that the sub- 

 stance of the liver is clearly visible through it. In those parts 

 which obtain a peritoneal investment, a superficial "serous," 

 and a deep fibrous, layer can generally be distinguished (Theile). 

 The deep connective tissue forms an investment to the larger 

 vessels, and incomplete septa between the lobules. No proper 

 fasciculi of connective tissue penetrate into the interior of the 

 lobules of a healthy liver, but there is an intralobular connec- 

 tive tissue, composed of a few scattered fibres which are partly 

 applied to the capillaries, especially in the periphery of the 

 lobules, and partly appear in the form of simple or branched 

 fibrils, which are stretched between the capillaries, and assume 

 more or less of the form of reticular connective tissue. Nu- 

 cleated bodies which sometimes lie on the outer surface of the 

 capillaries, are commonly considered to be connective-tissue 

 corpuscles. The demonstration of the intralobular connective 

 tissue is best accomplished in extremely fine sections of livers 

 that have been moderately hardened in chromic acid ; for here 

 the hepatic cells fall out from the thinnest spots and from the 

 borders, so that the capillaries and the fibres in question are 

 completely isolated. Sections that are somewhat thicker should 

 be shaken for a considerable time in the hardening fluid, or if 

 still less successfully made they should be pencilled out. 



His* considered the extremely fine stride or plexiform systems of 

 lines frequently visible on the wall of well-isolated capillaries, to be 

 an adventitia capillaris, but was unable to discover any connective- 

 tissue corpuscles in it. He also first directed attention to the delicate 



* Zeitschrift fur wissenschaftliche Zoologie, 1860, Band x., p. 340. 



