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XXIV. On the Secretory Apparatus of the Liver. 
By C. Handfjeld Jones, M.D. Communicated by Sir Benjamin C. Brodie, Bart. 
Received November 20, 1845, — Read February 5, 1846. 
XHE general arrangement of the structures composing the liver, especially of the 
vascular portion of the organ, has been well understood since the time when Mr. 
Kiernan’s researches were published ; the chief points which since then have engaged 
further inquiry, are the exact mode in which the minute biliary ducts take their origin, 
and the disposition and function of the epithelial cellular element, which physiologists 
now justly consider as an agent of primary importance in the elaboration of the 
biliary, as well as of every other secretion. Mr. Kiernan described the biliary ducts 
occupying the interlobular fissures, as anastomosing and giving off branches, which 
entering the tissue of the lobule, formed there a “ reticulated plexus this account 
has been very recently confirmed by German anatomists of celebrity, viz. Muller, 
Weber, and Kronenberg, and their view is adopted and further confirmed by Mr. 
Paget in the last Report of the progress of Anatomy and Physiology, January 1845. 
Mr. Bowman’s view of the arrangement is different ; he denies the existence of any 
lobular biliary plexus, and states that the basement membrane terminates at the 
surface of the lobules ; he confesses however that we possess no accurate account of 
the mode of termination of the biliary ducts, and seems to agree with Henle that it 
has not yet been determined in what manner the contents of the epithelial cells find 
their way into the ducts : these two points I hope to elucidate in some degree satis- 
factorily in the account which follows. 
If a thin section of the liver be examined under moderate compression with a linear 
power of 70 to 100 diameter, a number of lobules are observed of an irregular form, 
which on the whole approaches the circular ; in or near the centre of each of these 
is a large foramen indicating the position of the intralobular vein, the lining mem- 
brane of which can be clearly distinguished ; from this to the circumference of the 
lobule, lines of dark or mottled appearance about y^oth of an inch in width are seen 
radiating on every side ; these radii can seldom be traced in a continuous line to the 
margin of the lobule, but either pass into others so as to form a long meshed network, 
or else dip down and become lost to view ; those, however, which reach to the margin 
can often be followed for some distance towards the centre. The appearance now 
described is best observed in the liver of the Rabbit or the Sheep, but can be seen 
also more or less perfectly in the human liver, and in that of the common domestic 
animals. If in a broken lobule one of these radii be examined with a power of 200 
mdcccxlvi. 3 Q 
