CHOROID COAT 



401 



same time strong membranous frame or suspensory 

 ligament, which extends from the edges of the lens to 

 what are termed the ciliary processes of the choroid 

 coat (Figs. 126, 5, and 128, c). Tn the ordinary condition 

 of the eye this ligament is kept tense, i.e. is stretched 

 pretty tight, and the front part of the lens is consequently 

 flattened. 



The choroid coat is highly vascular and consists of 

 blood-vessels arranged in a very complex way, bound 

 together with a little connective tissue among which, 

 towards its inner side, are a number of branched connec- 



Pio. 127. — Pigment Cells from the Choroid Coat. 



tive tissue corpuscles whose cell-sub.stance is loaded with 

 granules of black pigment (Fig. 127). 



The choroid is in close contact with the sclerotic exter- 

 nally, and internally is in contact with a layer of very 

 peculiar cells, also full of pigment (Fig. 139). But these 

 cells really belong to the retina and will therefore be 

 described later on (p. 424). They are separated from the 

 vitreous humour by the retina only. The choroid lines 

 every part of the sclerotic, except just where the optic 

 nerve enters it at a point below, and to the inner side of 

 the centre of the back of the eye ; but when it reaches 



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