332 INTEGUMENTS. 



a foetus, will become extravasated between the cutis vera and 

 cuticle, and raise up the latter in small blisters, as I have fre- 

 quently experienced, though it cannot be caused to pass through 

 the cuticle. 



The precise nature of the tissue which composes the true skin 

 is not yet fully ascertained; it seems, however, to be a mixture 

 of cellular substance and ligamentous matter; with a striking 

 predominance of the latter in most parts of the body, though 

 its proportion varies considerably, being very abundant on the 

 thickest parts of the skin, while it is scarcely discernible on 

 the thinnest. The following analogies of dermoid with liga- 

 mentous or desmoid tissue are observable. It becomes yellow 

 and transparent on being boiled, and a continuation of the 

 process dissolves it into gelatine. It resists putrefaction for a 

 long time; is remarkably tenacious. Contrary, however, to li- 

 gamentous matter, it is extensible and elastic, though this pro- 

 perty may arise from the oblique intertexture of its fibres ; as a 

 bandage from a piece of muslin, when torn longitudinally or 

 transversely, is inelastic, but if it be cut bias, it is then very 

 elastic. The application of tannin increases its resistance, and 

 makes it one of the strongest animal substances known in hu- 

 man arts. 



The skin has a very strong power of contraction, which is 

 manifested in an amputation, in a long incised wound, or when 

 a sensation of chillness exists, as in an ague or from the appli- 

 cation of cold. Owing to the diminution in size of its areolae, 

 its external surface then becomes wrinkled, rough, and studded 

 with projecting points, constituting the Cutis Anserina. 



The cutis vera is very vascular, and abounds also in nerves 

 and absorbents. 



SECT. II. OF THE RETE MUCOSUM. 



The Mucous Net (Rete Mucosum*) of Malpighi, is the second 

 layer of the skin, and is that in which resides the colour of the 

 several races of men. It covers every part of the surface of 

 the cutis vera; its existence, however, is not so obvious beneath 

 the nails and about the junction of the skin with mucous mem- 



* Caldani, Icon. Anat. PI. xci. Albinus, Annot. Acad. Ley den, 1756. 

 Ruysch, Thes. Anat. ix. 



