86 



LACRYMAL ORGANS. 



everted and examined, the moisture being first 

 wiped off from its surface, under different direc- 

 tions of the light, an appearance is observed as 

 of a shining surface beset with small brilliant 

 grains, as if minutely shagreened. This ap- 

 pearance is more or less distinct in different 

 individuals and most so after death. 



The appearance described is produced by 

 numerous papillae, considered nervous by 

 Ruysch,* and small glands by Miiller,f and, 

 after him, by most other authors. Eble} objects 

 to this view of the matter, and asserts that the 

 papillae are quite distinct from mucous glands, 

 and are the same as the papilla found on other 

 mucous surfaces, and that they particularly 

 resemble the papillae of the mucous membrane 

 of the gums and inner surface of the alae nasi. 

 Eble, however, adds that these papillae present 

 themselves in all the mucous membranes in a 

 manner quite analogous to glands, and he 

 thinks that the mucus of mucous membranes is 

 the product of the secretion of the papillary 

 body. And this is equally applicable to the 

 secretion of the palpebral conjunctiva, whence 

 it would appear that Miiller and Eble really 

 do not differ in opinion, but only in the terms 

 they employ to express it. 



The part where the papillary body appears 

 least distinctly is between the edge of the eyelid 

 and the groove on the posterior surface above 

 mentioned. The palpebral conjunctiva all 

 beyond the groove presents the papillary body 

 in a more decided form, and the development 

 of it goes on increasing to some distance beyond 

 the orbital margin of the tarsus. The con- 

 junctiva covering the lacrymal caruncle, as also 

 the greatest part of the semilunar fold, present 

 no papillary body. Towards the lacrymal 

 points there is found a great number of pretty 

 apparent papillae. 



The papillary body is very vascular. It is 

 the morbid development of it which constitutes 

 the so-called granulations of the eyelids in the 

 puro-mucous ophthalmiae ; of which indeed the 

 papillary body appears to be the peculiar seat. 

 An inflammation suddenly affecting a healthy 

 conjunctiva from atmospherical causes is what 

 is conventionally called a catarrhat 'ophthalmia. 

 If this be allowed to fall into a chronic state, 

 or if the conjunctiva has been affected by a less 

 marked inflammatory action for a time, the 

 papillary body becomes hypertrophied. In this 

 state it forms as it were a new organ ready to 

 be affected by a form of disease which a healthy 

 conjunctiva is not all at once so prone to as- 

 sume. Mere congestion caused by over- 

 exertion of the eyes, or by heavy caps and high 

 tight collars, as Dr. Vleminckx thinks, together 

 with fatigue, exposure, want of cleanliness, 

 abuse of stimulating liquors, &c., may give 



oder 



* 10th Thesaurus. 



t Erfahrungssatze uber die contagiose o( 

 agyptische Augenentzlindung. Mainz, 1821. 



t Op. cit. p. 19, 29, pi. i and ii. Or the Belgian- 

 French translation, " De la Structure et des Mala- 

 dies de la Conjonctive. &c. Traduit de 1'Allcmand 

 par EJ. de Losen de Seltenhoff, M.D. Puhlie par 

 ordrc du Ministre de la Guerre. Bruxelles, 1836. 



rise to this unnatural development of the papil- 

 lary body of the conjunctiva, and so predispose 

 in a particular manner, on the occurrence of any 

 atmospherical influence, to an attack of con- 

 junctivitis, and that rather of the form of the 

 Egyptian ophthalmia than of a simple ca- 

 tarrhal. 



Epithelium of the palpebral conjunctiva. 

 " It is extremely difficult," says Eble,* " to 

 distinguish this on so fine a membrane. Al- 

 though I have succeeded, by maceration in 

 boiling water, in detaching it in part from the 

 eyelids of an ox, I have not again been able to 

 convince myself of the exactness of the obser- 

 vation as I could have wished." J. F. Meckel 

 doubted the existence of an epithelium. Eble 

 says again that he would, however, admit its 

 presence on the conjunctiva rather from analogy 

 than from observation. Here is a good example 

 of the assistance derivable from the microscope, 

 two such observers as Meckel and Eble unable 

 with the naked eye to determine the existence 

 of a structure which later observers with the 

 microscope have fully established. We shall 

 return to the subject in speaking of the epithe- 

 lium of the conjunctiva bulbi. 



Sclerotic conjunctiva, conjunctiva sclerotica. 

 As far as vascularity goes, there is a decided 

 difference between this and the preceding. 

 The sclerotic conjunctiva is composed of a 

 chorion or vascular basis of the membrane 

 covered by epithelium. Valentinf describes 

 between the chorion and epithelium another 

 structure which he calls papillary. 



The chorion of the sclerotic conjunctiva con- 

 sists of irregularly stratified fibres of cellular 

 tissue interwoven with bloodvessels and 

 nerves. 



" Do the conjunctiva scleroticse and the 

 conjunctival pellicle of the cornea also preserve 

 a papillary body or not?" asks Eble,J in re- 

 ference to Valentin's assertion of one. Eble 

 admits the structure described by Valentin 

 under the name of papillary body between 

 the chorion and epithelium of the conjunc- 

 tiva bulbi, but thinks, and correctly, that it 

 is a very different thing from the papillary body 

 of the palpebral conjunctiva as described by 

 himself. Valentin's papillary body of the con- 

 junctiva bulbi is a matter of the microscope 

 Eble's papillary body of the palpebral con- 

 junctiva, though minute, is still in some de- 

 gree cognisable to the naked eye. Hypertrophy 

 of the papillary body of the palpebral conjunc- 

 tiva constitutes, as has been said, what is called 

 granular conjunctiva. We never see such a gra- 

 nular state of the sclerotic conjunctiva. 



The following is Valentin's description of 

 what he calls the papillary body of the conjunc- 

 tiva bulbi : It is best seen in the human eye, 

 " when, after several days' maceration, the 

 loosened and swollen epithelium is carefully 



* Loc. cit. 



t Repertorium fur die Anatomie &c. Bd. 1 ; 

 pp. 142300. Berlin, 1837. 



$ In medicinischen Jahrblicher dcs k. k. Oester- 

 reirhischen Staates. Neueste Folge, xvi. Band, 

 p. 73. 



