Volume 1

The microscopic anatomy of the human body, in health and disease. Illustrated with numerous drawings in colour / By Arthur Hill Hassall, M.B.

  • Hassall, Arthur Hill, 1817-1894.
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The microscopic anatomy of the human body, in health and disease. Illustrated with numerous drawings in colour / By Arthur Hill Hassall, M.B. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    them in the internal Pacchionian glands mixed with granular matter, and the same kind of fibre as exists in most parts of the arachnoid membrane. Their diameter varies from 75,000 to 39,800 of an inch. I have observed on some parts of the arachnoid, in the vicinity of a cluster of these bodies cavities of a similar shape and size, from which the corpuscles themselves appear to have been dislodged. From this circumstance, as well as from the general aspect of these bodies, they seem to me either to be structures altogether adventitious, or the result of an abnormal deposition in diseased corpuscles. The tendency which they may be observed to have to co- alesce when several smaller ones occur together, evident by the oblite- ration of those portions which seem pressed against one another, and the union of the remote segments to form a single outline enclosing an area whose figure clearly indicates the number of corpuscles which have united to form it, proves them to be something more than mere earthy deposits, such as are sometimes found in the choroid plexuses, or even than mere scrofulous tubercles. Yogel has found bodies similar to these in the choroid plexuses; in these, and in the pia mater, Dr. E. Harless has also seen them, and given a very minute account of their structure in a number of Muller’s Archives, 1845. This author seems to think that their seat is in the arteries, and that they are somewhat allied to ossifi- cation of these structures ; but their occurrence in all parts of the arach- noid, in some of which there are probably no vessels, is opposed to this view.” Mr. Rainey regards the corpuscles constituting the epithelium of the choroid plexuses as ganglionary, and details his reasons for this opinion ; hese, h owever, cannot be admitted to be decisive on this point. “ As respects the supply of vessels and cerebro-spinal nerves to the arachnoid, I may observe, that the arteries are few, but rather large, almost sufficiently so to receive a small injection tube ; (I have prepar- ations of these;) and that cerebro-spinal nerves may be traced into its visceral portion, and, with the microscope, their tubules can be seen run- ning along with the arachnoid fibres, into which they appear, from the gradual loss of their tubular contents, to degenerate.” Structure of the Striped Muscular Fibrilla. At page 341., doubts were expressed as to the correctness of the view entertained by Drs. Carpenter and Sharpey, in reference to the structure of the striped muscular fibrilla. At that period, the author had not seen any of Mr. Lealand’s preparations, on the examination of which the above-named gentlemen founded their opinion; he has since, however, been favoured by Dr. Carpenter with the examination of his own specimen, and this would certainly appear to bear out fully their opinion of its cellular constitution.