392 M. Floiirens on the Structure of the 



" Beclard is of the same opinion as Bichat. ' This ques- 

 tion,' says he (of the existence of the epidermis on the mucous 

 membranes of the stomach and intestines), ' cannot be resolved 

 otherwise than it has been by Bichat, wlio,' adds he, ' incHnes 

 rather to the negative.' * 



" Lastly, Meckel, who, like Beclard, appears to have under- 

 taken the task of subjecting to a new examination almost all 

 the great labours of Bichat, expresses himself on this question 

 in terms still more decided than Bichat himself. ' Epispastics,' 

 says he, ' during life, and maceration after death, are unable 

 to demonstrate the existence of an epidermis on the villous 

 coat of the stomach and intestines. It is very doubtful, then, 

 whether this epidermis exist, and whether, as Haller and Bi- 

 chat think, its existence be attested by the formation of mem- 

 branes having the form of the channels whence they escape, 

 since the formation of these membranes can be very well ex- 

 plained otherwise.' f 



" Thus (jilisson, Bichat, Beclard, and Meckel, deny the epi- 

 deiTnis of the stomach and intestines : but, on the other side, 

 many anatomists, not less celebrated, admit it ; as Ruysch, 

 Lieberkuhn, Haller, &c? 



" Euysch admits it, and calls it epithelnim. He is not sure, 

 however, that he has really separated it from the villous coat 

 of the intestines; for he says, that one sees the villosities of this 

 coat irithout requiring to take away the epithelium.X 



" Lieberkuhn is, I believe, the first who has clearly seen 

 the epidermis of the intestines, and perhaps the only one of 

 these old anatomists who has seen it well. He says that a 

 membrane, similar to the epidermis, covers the villosities of the 

 intestines ; and, what is still more precise, he says, that this 

 membrane is continuous with the epidermis of the stomach, the 

 oesophagus, and mouth. § 



" Haller also admits the epidermis of the stomach and in- 

 testines ; but what takes much weight from his assertion is) 



* Beclard, Notes sur Biihat. 



t Meckel, Manuel d'Aiiat. t. i. p. 499. 



t Euysch, Thifaiir. vii. No. 40. 



§ Lieberkuhn, Be fair, etact. titl, intetf. 



