Volume 2

The physiological anatomy and physiology of man / by Robert Bentley Todd and William Bowman.

Date:
1845-1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The physiological anatomy and physiology of man / by Robert Bentley Todd and William Bowman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    502/692 (page 474)
    netvvorlc. It has long been a question whether the cells lie amongst these capillary vessels, or are enclosed in a basement Fig. 226. Section of horse's liTor, nt right angles to branches of the hepatic vein, showing the cells forming lines radiating from the centre towards the circimiference of the lobules, from a preparation of Dr. Peale’s. membrane, as we should expect from the analogy of other glandular organs. It has been admitted by all who have examined the liver carefully, that in sections made in a particular direction, the cells are seen to form lines which radiate from the centre towards the circumference of the lobule; these lines being connected with oblique or transverse branches. Such an appearance is not pre- sented in every section, but only in those made exactly at right angles, with the small twig of the hepatic vein. This is well seen in fig. 226. The cells are described by Kolliker and others, as being placed end to end, forming solid cylinders, but not invested with basement membrane. Usually there is only room for one row of cells; but in some situations, tw'o or three may be seen between two capillary vessels. Dr. Handheld Jones has been led by his researches to adopt the same conclusion with regard to the arrangement of the liver cells, and Dr. Carpenter has expressed himself in favour of a similar view. On the other hand, Retzius, Leidy, and some other observers, advocate the presence of a tubular basement membrane, in which the cells lie, and which is continuous with the hepatic ducts.