308 



DIGESTION. 



met with in two conditions, viz., either scattered singly, 

 in which case they are termed glandula solitaria, or aggre- 

 gated in groups varying from one to three inches in length 

 and about half-an-inch in width, chiefly of an oval form, 

 their long axis parallel with that of the intestine. In this 

 state, they are named glandule agminatce, the groups being 

 commonly called Peyer's patches (fig. 74). The latter are 

 placed almost always opposite the attachment of the 

 mesentery. In structure, and probably in function, there 



Fig. 76.f 



Fig. 75-* 







is no essential difference between the solitary glands and 

 the individual bodies of which each group or patch is 

 made up ; but the surface of the solitary glands (fig. 75) is 

 beset with villi, from which those forming the agminate 

 patches (fig. 76) are usually free. In the condition in 

 which they have been most commonly examined, each 

 gland appears as a circular opaque-white sacculus, from 

 half a line to a line in diameter, and, according to the 



* Fig. 75. Solitary gland of small intestine, after Boehm. 



f Fig. 76. Part of a patch of the so-called Peyer's glands magnified, 

 showing the various forms of the sacculi, with their zone of foramina. 

 The rest of the membrane marked with Lieberkiihn's follicles, and 

 sprinkled with villi (after Boehm). 



