CHAP XXXIV.] 



MALPTGITIAN BODIES. 



487 



mammalia, and are often larger towards the base of the cones. 



They are, for the most ^.231. 



part, of a spherical, oval, 



or flask- like form. A 



small artery afferent ves- 



sel may be seen to enter 



the tuft, and a minute 



venous radicle efferent 



vessel to emerge from it 



in close proximity to the 



artery (Fig. 231). The 



Malpighian body itself 



consists of a rounded 



bunch of capillaries de- 



rived from the afferent 



and terminating in the 



efferent vessel, the former 



dividing over the surface, 



the latter emerging from 



the interior. This vascular 



tuft lies within a clear 



and perfectly transparent 



capsule, lined at its lower 



part with epithelium. The 



epithelium, which is con- 



, i i f ,1 From Ihe human subject. This specimen exhibits the ter- 



tinued Upwards from the mination of a considerable arterial branch wholly in Malphi- 



;-*fl, , *. 1^ ' 4- '4. ghian tufts, a. Arterial branch, with its terminal twigs. At 



UrimlerOUS tube mtO its a , the injection has only partially filled the tuft. At /3 it has 



n -t vi J'l j. *.' entirely filled it, and has also passed out along the efferent 



flask-like dilatation, Can- ve8S el ef without any extravasation. At y it has burst into 



-.->_, 11 -i , i f the capsule, and escaped along the tube t, but has also filled 



llOt Usually be traced tor the efferent vessel ef. At 8 and e it has extravasated, and 



/AV.Q passed along the tube, At m and m the injection, on escaping 

 One- into the capsule, has not spread over the whole tuft. Magnified 



third of the length of about 45 diaraeters ' 

 the capsule (Fig. 3, p. 65, Vol. I.) ; but in the proteus (Fig. 232), the 

 capsule is seen to be entirely lined with an exceedingly thin layer 

 of delicate epithelium, the cells of which are of an oval, or poly- 

 hedral form, with a very large granular nucleus, and about the 

 T i^ of an inch in diameter. The capsule itself consists of hyaloid 

 membrane, which is directly continuous with the basement mem- 

 brane of the convoluted portion of the tube. In fact, each urini- 

 ferous tubule terminates by a dilatation which embraces the 

 vessels of the tuft, and is intimately united to them at the point 

 where they enter and emerge. 



The continuity of the tube with the Malpighian capsule has 



