On the nature of the fur on the tongue / by Henry Trentham Butlin ; communicated by J. Burdon Sanderson.

  • Butlin, Henry Trentham, Sir, 1845-1912.
Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the nature of the fur on the tongue / by Henry Trentham Butlin ; communicated by J. Burdon Sanderson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    1/14
    u TFroth the Proc , No. 195, 1879.] z On the Nature of -fjjii uS^ fa Tongue.” By HENRY Trentham Butlin, F.Iu^T' Communicated by ,T. Burdon Sanderson, F.R.S., Professor of Physiology in University College, London. Received March 26, 1879. [Plates 10—13.] The fur on the tongue is generally stated to consist chiefly of ■ epithelial cells, usually sodden and granular. But several observers have described fungi as existing in it, or in the buccal mucus. Robin, for instance, describes a form of Leptoilirix (L. Buccalis) in the mouth, and particularly in and between the teeth. Kolliker mentions, as of constant occurrence, masses or dark-brown bodies (which had previously been described by Mi quel and Neidhardt, as occasionally present) having a granular aspect, which he believed to be of the j| nature of a fungus, similar if not identical with the fungus affecting | the teeth. Billroth speaks of finding in the white fur of himself and of several patients, exquisite palmelloidal forms of Ascococcus and Glcccoccus colonies. The object of this paper is to show that schizomycetes form the | essential constituent of the fur, and to explain, as far as possible, some of the laws which govern the formation of fur. The tongue is kept clean by free movement and by being rubbed I against the interior of the mouth, the gums, and the teeth; but fur i almost always exists upon its surface, both in health and in disease. The fur is generally thickest in the morning before food is taken, and : during illness, when the necessary cleansing is not properly performed. It occurs, too, most abundantly in the centre and back part of the tongue, covering a triangular area immediately in front of the circum- ! vallate papillae, for this part of the tongue is most difficult to keep > clean. It occupies the papillary surface of the tongue, scarcely ever . extending beyond it, and is, therefore, not found posterior to the ) circumvallate papillae. It does not form a continuous layer unless it is exceedingly thick, but lies upon the tops of the filiform and some of the fungiform papillae. In children the fungiform papillae are i usually quite free frotn fur, but in adults the difference between the j fungiform and filiform papillae is not nearly so well marked, and, with the exception of those situated near the apex of the tongue, the :i fungiform papillae are frequently coated. Fur forms upon the filiform papilla, because these papillae are rough and possessed of longer or V shorter epithelial processes, to which foreign matters cling readily, ' andjft'om which it is very difficult to dislodge them. The fungiform 1 Papilla;, on the contrary, are usually smooth and rounded on the c summit, and even when large are easily kept clean.