1 86 NORMAL HISTOLOGY AND ORGANOGRAPHY. 



to irregular folds. The surface is beset with minute 

 pores or circular depressions, called crypts, into 

 which the gastric glands open. As in other parts 

 of the food canal this layer consists of epithelium, 

 membrana propria, and muscularis mucosa. The 

 epithelium is simple columnar with the nucleus near 

 the bottom of the cell, leaving a clear proximal half 



Crypt. 



Gastric glands. 



] Muscularis mucosa. 



Fig. 135. Cross section through the wall of a stomach. 



to each cell that does not readily stain. The pits or 

 crypts are lined by this same epithelium. The 

 membrana propria has a rich supply of connective- 

 tissue cells and extensive ramifications of blood and 

 lymph capillaries. The muscularis mucosa is a thin 

 muscle layer, external to the membrana propria, 

 and consists of an inner layer of circular and an outer 



