416 THE SUPEAEENAL CAPSULES. 



Ill the thinner parts of the adult organ there is no medullary part, and 

 the layer of connective tissue referred to is found separating the deep sur- 

 faces of two opposed portions of 

 Fiu. 302. the cortical part ; but in the 



1^^//..- ,, ,v:fp^m yoHBg state the distinction of 



ijMi^^*^'' '- - ' '^■^^'^1 cortical and medullaiy probably 



i extends throughout the whole. 

 I The medullary part is traversed 

 -| in the centre by venous trunks, 

 ; "which receive the whole of the 

 ' ; :S blood which has passed through 



i: ^ the organ. The stroma is delicate 



-: . - J] and arranged in a reticular 



iBzM^@.^^'^'^^=^<^/@/S'0/^ manner ; in its meshes are en- 

 closed groups of cells, which diifer 

 Fig. 302. -Cells and Cell-Groi^ps from ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^f ^j^g ^^^^^^ -j^^ ^^;^ 



THE OUTERMOST LAYER OP THE CORTICAL , , i .-. l i» 



Substance of the Suprarenal Body. COarsely granular, destitute of 

 Highly magnified (Ebertii). oil-globules, and some of them 



branched. Moreover they become 

 stained of an intense yellow or brown by solutions of yellow chromate 

 of potash, whereas the cortical cells are but slightly tinged by that 

 re-agent. The bundles of nerves which pass through the cortical sub- 

 gtance run between it and the medullary substance, and then form a 

 copious interlacement which extends through the whole of the medul- 

 lary stroma. Indeed, some observers (Leydig and Luschka) have 

 regarded the cells of the medullary substance as nerve-cells ; and Ijuschka 

 states that he has found them connected with nerve-fibres ; but this still 

 requires confirmation. Moers, whilst denying that the cells generally 

 of the medullary parenchyma are nervous, nevertheless describes ganglia 

 on the nerves where their bundles begin to break up. The medullary 

 substance receives its blood by the continuation inwards of the capillary 

 network of the cortex, the blood from which is collected by venous 

 radicles which open into the stems in the centre of the organ and 

 these emerge at the hilus. 



Vessels. — The suprarenal bodies receive arteries from three sources, -^az., from 

 the aorta, the phrenic, and the renal arteries. The distribution of their capillary 

 vessels has already been mentioned. 



The reins, which pass out from the centre, are usually united into one for each 

 organ. The right vein enters the vena cava inferior immediately, whilst the left, 

 fifter a longer course, terminates iu the left renal vein. 



The 7//m2)hati€s are imperfectly known. KoUiker has seen a few small trunks 

 upon the surface ; and Luschka has, in addition, observed others emerging from 

 the interior in company with the vein. 



Nerves. — The nerves are exceedingly numerous. They are derived from tlie 

 solar plexus of the sympathetic, and from the renal plexuses. According to 

 Bergmann, some filaments come from the phrenic and pneumogastric nerves. 

 They are made up mainly of dark-)jordered white fibres, of different sizes, and 

 they have many small ganglia upon them before entering the organ. The nerves 

 are especially numerous in the lower half, and inner border. 



Accessory suprarenal capsules are occasionally met with, attached by connec- 

 tive tissue to the main bodies ; and varjdng from a small size un to that of a pea. 

 According to Duckworth they possess no medullary part. 



On the subject of the sui^rarenal capsules may be consulted, — Bergmann, 

 Dissertation, Gottingen, 18.39; Ecker, Der feinere Bau der Nebennieren, Braim- 

 echweig, 1846 ; Simon on the Thymus Gland ; Frey, article " Suprarenal Capsules," 



