336 



MANUAL OF HISTOLOGY. 



as it were, to hold the iris in position, is the ligament of the 

 iris (d), composed of loose connective tissue with an abundant 

 open mesh work, enclosing spaces (Fontantfs spaces), (f), which, 

 on the one hand, connect with the anterior chamber by small 

 openings lined with endothelium, and on the other with the 

 lymph-spaces of the cornea and sclera, as may be shown by 

 injecting a solution of aniline blue into the anterior chamber. 



FIG. 153. Corneal margin from a meridional section of the human eye : a. a', external epithelium of 

 the cornea ; a', a", epithelium of the conjunctiva bulbi ; 6, &'. &', corneal tissue ; ft 7 , &', &", &", sclerotica ; 

 fc, *, conjunctiva; v, v', canal of Schlomm; c, c', membrane of Descemet; d, process of the iris: /", iris; e, 

 endothelium of the membrane of Descemet; e'. e\ e', of the ligamentum pectinatum iridis ; e'\ e'\ e", of 

 the iris ; /, mesh work of the space of Fontana ; m, musculus oiliaris. 



At the inner part of the sclera, close to its junction with the 

 cornea and the ligament, is the canal of Schlemm (v, a'), a ring- 

 shaped passage, oval on section. It is lined with a single ]ayer 

 of endothelium, varies in size in different specimens, often ap- 

 pearing as if divided into two parts, and, according to Wal- 

 deyer, probably connects with the anterior chamber and also 

 with the scleral veins. 



Through this passage and Fontana? s spaces the fluid of the 

 anterior chamber is supposed to escape from the globe, and it 

 is worthy of note that in glaucoma, with increased intra-ocular 

 tension, we find the iris attached to the periphery of the cor- 



