AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIVER. 
127 
checked, the secretion from the marginal cells of the lobules had accumulated in the 
fissures and canals, so as to produce the appearance described. Now that, which 
occurred to an extreme degree in this abnormal condition, may very probably take 
place to a lesser extent when the gland is in a healthy state, and there would seem 
in all cases to be a tendency to the occurrence of something similar. The theory, 
first suggested by Henle though not adopted by him, which I endeavoured to esta- 
blish in my previous paper, respecting the mode in which the bile, elaborated by the 
cells in the interior of the lobule, is conveyed to the efferent duct on the exterior, 
viz. that it makes its way by transmission from cell to cell of a linear series, is I 
think somewhat confirmed by what I have occasionally observed respecting the dis- 
position of the contents of the cells when arranged in a series ; thus in one very per- 
fect series of some considerable length, there was a distinct indication of a central 
canal extending throughout it, the granular matter in each lay in contact with the 
cell-wall, and the middle part of the cell was comparatively free. But though from 
the examination of certain livers we might be led to conclude that this mode of 
transmission was the only one in which the secretion of the cells was disposed of, yet 
instances are abundantly frequent which render it very probable that there is another 
and more direct mode in which the removal of the cell product, prone as it is to 
accumulate, is provided for. Now the following circumstance cannot I think but 
arrest the attention of all who are in the habit of examining the condition of hepatic 
structure, viz. that the quantity of free oily (perhaps also of biliary) matter varies 
very greatly ; sometimes it is extremely abundant, at others scarce any is to be found : 
moreover it is manifest, that the product of secretion, while thus freely diffused, is 
just in the condition which renders it most exposed to the absorbing action of the 
circulating current. If the materials which serve as fuel for respiration are deficient 
in the blood, they may be readily absorbed into this fluid, as it percolates the lobular 
masses ; and we may go further, and state that it is quite probable, that even while 
the biliary secretion is contained within the cell envelope, it is capable of being 
influenced by the state of the blood, so as to make its way by endosmosis, into the 
capillary streams, through the homogeneous membranes of the cell and blood-vessel. 
This view will not seem improbable, if we reflect on the simple constitution of the 
lobules, where a vast mass of naked cells is traversed by an exceedingly close capil- 
lary network ; the cells and the blood are therefore brought into the closest relation 
possible, and it cannot but be on mere physical principles, that the contents of either 
should tend to intermingle. I may also remark, that this view supplies another 
reason besides that suggested by Mr. Simon for the absence of the basement mem- 
brane, viz. that not only the cells may be more freely exposed to the blood, but the 
blood also to the contents of the cells. The above suggestions, founded on structural 
characters, and on the varying conditions of the organ, harmonize well with the view 
which has lately received so much support from chemical inquiry, and which regards 
the bile as mainly intended to be absorbed and returned to the circulation ; they 
may also help to explain why the bile has to pursue so tardy and indirect a course 
