344 



THE HUMAN BODY. 



and there also a duct passes out from each half of the organ. 

 The ducts unite to form the hepatic duct, Dli, which meets 

 at an acute angle, the cystic duct, DC, proceeding from the 

 gall-bladder, Vf, a pear-shaped sac in which the bile, or gall, 

 formed by the liver, accumulates when food is not being 

 digested in the intestine. The common bile-duct, Dck, 



Lv 



FIG. 116. The under surface of the liver, d, rigrht, and s, left lobe; Vh. hepatic 

 vein; Vp< porta.l vein; Vc. vena cava "inferior; Dc/i, 'common bile-duct; DC, cystic 

 duct; Dh, hepatic duct; Vf, gall-bladder. 



formed by the union of the hepatic and cystic ducts, opens 

 into the duodenum. The blood which enters the liver by 

 the portal vein and hepatic artery passes out by the hepatic 

 veins, Vh, which leave the posterior border of the organ close 

 to the vertebral column, and there open into the inferior vena 

 cava just before it passes up through the diaphragm. 



The Structure of the Liver. On closely examining the 

 surface of the liver, it will be seen to be marked out into 

 small angular areas from one to two millimeters (^ to T V 

 inch) in diameter. These are the outer sides of the super- 

 ficial layer of a vast number of minute polygonal masses, or 

 lobules, of which the liver is built up; similar areas are seen 

 on the surface of any section made through the organ. 

 Each lobule (Fig. 117) consists of a number of hepatic 

 cells supported by a close, network of capillaries; and is 

 separated from neighboring lobules by connective tissue, 



