XXIV.] SKIN AND TOUCH. 247 



c. A row of columnar nucleated cells placed 

 perpendicularly to the tissue beneath. The 

 spheroidal and the columnar cells together 

 form the Malpighian layer. 



B. The Dennis : in which may be seen 



a. A thin outer layer consisting of a fine plexus 

 of white fibrous tissue, of connective tissue 

 corpuscles, and of some anastomosing elastic 

 fibrils, embedded in a good deal of hyaline 

 or faintly fibrillated matrix. The upper 

 portions of this form a kind of basement or 

 limiting membrane immediately below the 

 columnar epidermic cells. The lower portions 

 pass gradually into 



6. A plexus of fibrous tissue with larger bands 

 and a more developed elastic-fibre network ; 

 in its deeper portion this merges into the 

 sub-cutaneous connective tissue in which 

 the spaces of the plexus are large and in 

 which clumps of fat cells usually occur ; there 

 is no definite line of demarcation between the 

 dermis and the sub-cutaneous tissue. 



c. The papillae : conical elevations of the der- 

 mis, rising up into the Malpighian layer, 

 which therefore appears to dip down between 

 them. 



d. Indications of the blood-vessels, abundantly 

 distributed all over the dermis, and forming 

 capillary loops in the papillae. They should 

 be observed in injected specimens. 



