SECT. I34.] 



OEAL FOLLICULAR GLANDS. 



283 



9 



Follicular gland, from the root of the tongue of man. a. 

 Epithelium lining the same; 6. papillse; c. outer surface of 

 the gland, with the envelope of areolar tissue; d. e. cavity of 

 the follicle; /. epithelium of the same ; g. follicles in the thick 

 wall of the gland. Magnified 30 times. 



Each follicular gland (fig. 125) is a thick-walled capsule, which 

 is surrounded externally by a fibrous investment, connected with 

 the deep layers of the Fig. us. 



mucous membrane, 

 aud is lined internally 

 by a continuation of 

 the mucous membrane 

 of the oral cavity with 

 papilla- and epithe- 

 lium. Between these 

 two coats it contains, 

 in a delicate, fibrous, 

 vascular matrix, a cer- 

 tain number of large, 

 completely shut cap- 

 sules or follicles (fig. 125, g), which, being T y to \'" in size, of a 

 round or oblong form, and of a whitish colour, very much resemble 

 the capsules of Pei/ers and the solitary glands, and the vesicles of the 

 spleen and of the lymphatic glands, and consist of a tolerably firm 

 investment, 0"003'" thick, of a someAvhat homogeneous connective 

 tissue, without elastic fibres, inclosing greyish-white contents. On 

 puncturing a follicle, its contained matter oozes out in form of a 

 drop which is diffusible in water, and composed of a fluid-portion 

 with solid particles. The former is present only in extremely 

 small quantity, so that it appears as the connecting medium of the 

 latter, which consist of cells, croc^"' to 0-005'" i n ^ ze ) without 

 any special characters. Acetic acid renders the cells granular and 

 their contents whitish ; it does not, however, precipitate any mucus, 

 which proves that the contents of these follicles differ from mucus, 

 but agree in nature with those of the spleen-corpuscles. The fol- 

 licles are mostly so arranged as to form an almost continuous simple 

 layer between the outer investment and the epithelium of the 

 glands ; but at particular parts we sometimes find, at least in the 

 mammalians, two follicles in the thickness of the wall, close to or 

 more widely separated from each other. 



The vessels of the follicular glands are very numerous, and can 

 often be readily traced in man, when filled with blood. Small 

 arteries pass from without, through the fibrous investment, into 

 the interior, where they ramify between the individual follicles in 

 a beautiful arborescent manner, and terminate in the papillae aud 

 also upon, and probably in, the follicles. The vessels of the 

 papillae present the same conditions as in the simple papillae on 



