142 GLANDS. 



and the larger veins of the organ. Is the pulp 

 entirely outside of the vessels, as asserted by some 

 authorities, or are the spaces in which it is contained 

 simply dilatations of the veins, and if this be true, 

 does it form a part of the general circulation ? The 

 researches which seem to us most conclusive tend 

 rather to establish the entire independence of the 

 cavities which contain the splenic pulp ; yet the fact 

 is not to be accepted as demonstrated. 



Development It is not agreed at what point exactly the spleen 

 takes Us origin, Arnold asserts that at first (from 

 the seventh to the eighth week), it is confounded 

 with the pancreas. BischofP says that, in the fcetal 

 calf, he has seen it spring from the greater curvature 

 of the stomach ; and according to other observers, it 

 is developed from a blastema, at first isolated, but 

 which shortly becomes attached to the great cul-de- 

 sac of the stomach. As to the histological transfor- 

 mations which the organ undergoes during its increase 

 of size > they have not been accurately demonstrated. 

 * H> " Supra-renal Capsules. The nature and physio- 

 logical function of these organs are as yet unknown. 

 Nevertheless it seems probable, from the nature of 

 certain elements which enter into their composition, 

 and which form, in fact, almost the whole of their 

 central portion, that they belong rather to the ner- 

 vous system than to the class of glands under consi- 

 deration. 



structure. The supra-renal capsule possesses a thin envelop, 

 fibrous in its structure, and intimately connected with 



* Professor of Physiology at Heidelberg, Baden, Germany. (Ed.) 



