aao 



whenever tumours, as warts, &c., rise from the surface of the 

 cutis vera: it is supposed, however, not to be entirely deprived 

 of this quality, as it seems to stretch when raised into a blister, 

 though this may arise, in some measure, from the small wrinkles, 

 naturally existing in it, being drawn out. It has not the slightest 

 sensibility, neither is this quality evolved by any condition 

 whatever, as it is in tendons, ligaments, and bones, when 

 they become inflamed. 



There is, in all probability, a slow loss and reproduction of 

 the cuticle constantly going on, The former is manifested by 

 the large quantity of branny scales that are detached from its 

 surface, when one has abstained from bathing for a long time. 

 This is more remarkable on the palms and soles than elsewhere., 

 and the loss must, of course, be continually supplied. It, as is 

 well known, is rapidly regenerated when it has been lost sim- 

 ply by an abrasion or blistering, which has not interfered with 

 the organization of the rete mucosum. In some cases there is 

 an unusual development of it : Bichat retained the skin of a 

 patient, dead at the Hotel Dieu, in whom the cuticle, at the pe- 

 riod of birth and in subsequent life, was three times the natural 

 thickness; and had always, with the exception of that of the 

 face, been subject to a continual desquamation. 



As the epidermis has in itself no power of regeneration, ow- 

 ing to its deficient organization, the most plausible opinion in 

 regard to its source is, that it is produced by the inspissation 

 and drying either of the external layer of the rete mucosum or 

 of a secretion from it, which renders it a sort of varnish, well 

 qualified to resist the agency of exterior objects, and to protect 

 the delicate organization of the proximate surface of the cutis 

 vera. This opinion of its origin seems to be proved by its par- 

 ticipating in the colour of the rete mucosum, more or less, so 

 as to give it a sensible tinge, which cannot be washed from it. 



One of the most striking properties of the cuticle is its re- 

 sistance to evaporation from the surface of the body : in a sub- 

 ject, any part of the derm, when deprived of it and exposed to 

 the air, dries up in the course of a day or two, while the other 

 portions remain soft and flexible for weeks, and, if it were not 

 for putrefaction causing- the cuticle to peel off, would some- 

 times remain so for months. Though it suppresses evapora- 



