ALIMENTARY CANAL, ETC.. OF AM1URUS CATUS. 407' 



on the postero-inferior surface forms a line of division over which 

 sometimes a lappet from the left stretches on the right half for a lit- 

 tle distance. 



The lobes distinguishable on both halves, in the majority of cases 

 observed, are as follows : — 



An antero-lateral lobe, not constant, stretching upward and back- 

 ward ; it is generally long and slender. 



A postero-lateral, somewhat smaller than the preceding, and 

 directed horizontally outwards. 



A postero-median, large, directed backward, that of the right side 

 almost covering the gall-bladder. 



These lobes may or may not be the same in size for both halves, as 

 a considerable amount of variation is always present. 



The lobulation on the surface of the liver in the cat-fish does not 

 appear prominently or clearly. This is owing to the smallness of the 

 lobules and to their passing almost without interruption into one 

 another. In the gorged condition of the liver they can be easily 

 seen as polygonal spaces, and measure about - 5 mm. on the average. 



The gall-bladder is of elongated oval shape, with its long axis 

 directed straight backwards. Anteriorly it passes into an arch-like 

 cystic duct toward the middle line which receives 8-10 hepatocystic 

 ducts in its course and becomes the ductus choledochus, at first large 

 but decreasing in diameter backwards. It enters into the intestine 

 in intimate connection with the pancreatic duct which lies above it. 

 Both open separately, each on papillae on the inner surface of the 

 transversely ducted portion of the mid-gut, about two centimetres 

 from the pyloric constiiction. 



There are two coats to the liver. The outermost, the serosa, easily 

 separable, is simply the peritoneal fold, and having all the characters 

 of the mesenteric tissue. The other, more closely applied and inside 

 the former, is apparently of flat epitheloid structures, hardly isolable 

 from the close arrangement of the hepatic capillaries on which they 

 lie. They may be analogous to the cortical cells described by 

 Eberth 1 in the amphibian liver. 



The liver of the cat-fish is very poor in interlobular tissue. A fair 

 amount enters the portal canal, but following the finer ramifications 

 of the portal vein, the pancieas increases in volume, its acini twining 



i Archiv fur Mikr. Anat.— Bd. III., page 430. 



