180 OEGANS OF SENSE. 



This liquid has been supposed by "some 2 to be derived 

 from a different source, viz. from a layer of globules 

 underlying the capsular epithelium, and distinguish- 

 able from it by their spherical shape, and by the 

 absence of nuclei in their contents (Warlomont).* 



Beneath the epithelium of -the capsule, and the 

 globules of Morgagni, is the proper substance of the 

 crystalline lens, which consists of a central portion or 

 nucleus, and a peripheral or cortical portion. The 

 central nucleus is a little star-shaped mass, made up 

 entirely of very minute granules. The cortical por- 

 tion of the lens is composed of concentric lamellae, 

 and each lamella, of hexagonal prisms in close appo- 

 sition and flattened antero-posteriorly. These pris- 

 matic bodies are more numerous and delicate in their 

 proportions as we trace them more deeply into the 

 substance of the lens, and they adhere to each other 

 more closely by their edges than by their faces, which 

 explains, on one hand, why the substance of the lens 

 increases in density from its surface towards its cen- 

 tre, and on the other, why it disintegrates more 

 readily into laminae than into fibres. They consist 

 of a very delicate and structureless containing mem- 

 brane, with contents of a semi-fluid consistence, 

 equally destitute of structure, and albuminous in 

 their nature ; their edges are serrated, and the inter- 

 digitation of these serrations adds to the solidity of 

 their union. 



Each prism, taking its origin from one of the pro- 

 longations of the central nucleus of the 'lens, passes 



* Dr. E. Warlomont, chief editor of the * Annales d'Oculistique,' pub- 

 lished at Brussels, Belgium. (Ed.} 



