G4 The Normal Histology of the Human Hemolymph Glands 



upon the human body was unsatisfactory because of the unfavorable 

 conditions under which his autopsies were made. He was able, how- 

 ever, to determine the presence of these glands in man, and states that 

 their structure in the human body is very similar to that in the sheep 

 and bullock. 



In 1891 Clarkson reported observations on " certain hitherto unde- 

 scribed glands " found in the neighborhood of the renal vessels in the 

 horse, sheep and goat. To these he gave the name of " hemal glands," 

 and considered them to be a different variety from the hemolymph 

 glands described by Eobertson though probably possessing the same 

 function. 



Gibbes in 1893 made a second report in which he states that Eobert- 

 son's description of these organs accords with the glands discovered by 

 himself in 1884, and accepts the designation of hemolymph glands as 

 an appropriate name for them. Finding his discovery thus confirmed 

 he had made further investigations in the human subject, and found 

 these glands to be constantly present near the renal vessels. He added 

 nothing, however, concerning their histology or function. 



In Clarkson's " Text-Book of Histology," 1896, several pages are de- 

 voted to the histology of the " hemal glands." Clarkson states that 

 these organs have been found in the pig, horse, ox and sheep, but have 

 not yet been observed in man. His descriptions are similar to those 

 of Gibbes and Eobertson, and the hemal glands must be regarded as 

 hemolymph glands. 



Vincent and Harrison, in 1897, gave a detailed histological descrip- 

 tion of the hemolymph glands of the ox, sheep and rat. They noted 

 also the occurrence of similar glands in the horse, dog, common fowl 

 and turkey, and pointed out the histological resemblance existing be- 

 'tween hemolymph glands and the head-kidney of certain teleostean 

 fishes. In several human cadavers examined they found no hemolymph 

 glands, but Vincent in a later examination found them in the mesentery 

 of a young boy. 



In 1900 Drummond made a more thorough study of the histology ol: 

 the hemolymph glands of the sheep, ox, rat and dog; and gave a very 

 clear description of their structure. He confirmed the work of Eobert- 

 son and Vincent and Harrison; and added many important points con- 

 cerning the distribution and structure of these glands in the lower 

 animals. 



In so far as I have been able to discover these are the only observa- 

 tions that have been made of the occurrence and structure of the 

 hemolymph glands, and as seen above the chief part of these have been 



