206 The Alligator and Its Allies 
vein could not be demonstrated. After entering 
the liver, the portal, of course, breaks up into capil- 
laries, and the blood thus distributed is re-col- 
lected by the capillaries of the hepatic veins above 
mentioned. 
The internal epigastric veins, ep, are, perhaps, 
the most conspicuous vessels of the postcaval 
system. When the ventral abdominal wall of 
the animal is removed, they may be seen extending 
forward from the pelvic region, on each side of the 
body, to enter the posterior edge of the liver. The 
epigastric of the right side enters the large or right 
lobe of the liver, where it breaks up into capillaries; 
the left epigastric sends its main branch into the 
left lobe of the liver, but also sends a branch over 
to enter the right lobe. 
Following the epigastrics caudad, they are seen 
to receive vessels from nearly all parts of the 
posterior region of the body. The left epigastric, 
which extends across the ventral side of the stom- 
ach, receives from that organ four or five branches, 
gt; while the farther removed right epigastric 
receives only one or two branches from the stom- 
ach. Posterior to these gastric veins the epigas- 
trics receive one or more veins, b, from the body 
wall and skin. Posterior, again, to the last- 
named veins, each epigastric receives, in the pelvic 
region, a large vein, the zlzac, il, which receives, in 
turn, a vein from the pelvis, pl, and continues down 
the thigh and lower leg to the foot as the femoral, 
