64 



AGE. 



tendency, accords more with the characters of 

 the adipose sarcoma than those of the genuine 

 wen. Personal examination enables me to say, 

 that, in the case of small steatoms of the scalp, 

 eyelids, face, &c. no fibres of this kind are re- 

 cognized ; and to such, if any distinction be 

 adopted, the name of llpoma should be con- 

 fined. In the case of such larger steatoms as 

 1 have seen in other regions of the body, though 

 the contents are firmly connected together, and 

 some filamentous threads may be seen here 

 and there, or the tumour may even be separa- 

 ble into masses, I have not been able to trace 

 the distinct arrangement of cells, mentioned by 

 Morgagni and Boyer. Weidmann mentions, 

 that in one case the matter of steatom was a 

 sort of liquefied fat, and in another firm and 

 dense, and not divided into lobes or cells. 

 The other forms of encysted tumours, distin- 

 guished by the names of atheroma, (a0?&;^a, 

 pulticula, ab oe,^tx,^oe.,pultis genus, ) and mtliceris 

 (pefaKrigu;, met and cer, honey wax,) are to be 

 viewed rather as varieties of the steatom than 

 as generically different. The substance con- 

 tained may differ in consistence, but is nearly 

 the same in essential qualities. 



8. Melanosis. The adipose membrane is a 

 frequent seat of this singular deposition. The 

 black or melanose matter is found in the sub- 

 cutaneous adipose membrane, arid the subja- 

 cent cellular tissue of the chest and belly ; it 

 is not uncommon in the fat of the orbit ; it is 

 very commonly seen in the adipose cushion on 

 the forepart of the vertebral column, on that sur- 

 rounding the kidneys, and in the fat of the anus 

 and rectum ; it is found in the anterior and 

 posterior mediastinum ; and it is found be- 

 tween the folds of the mesentery, of the meso- 

 colon, and of the omentum. It is also found 

 in the substance of the marrow of bones ; and, 

 perhaps, in most cases in which the osseous 

 system appears to be stained with the melanose 

 deposite, the dark matter may be traced to the 

 medullary particles, the situation of which it is 

 found accurately to occupy. 



In all these situations it appears in various 

 degrees of perfection, and in different forms. 

 It may be disseminated in black or inky spots, 

 through the adipose membrane ; it may be ac- 

 cumulated in spherical or spheroidal masses of 

 various size and shape ; or it may be found in 

 the form of brown or ebon-coloured fluid or 

 semifluid, enclosed in a cyst formed of the 

 contiguous tissue, more or less condensed. 



The melanose matter is entirely destitute of 

 organization, and is to be regarded as the result 

 of a peculiar secretion. No vessels have been 

 traced into it; and when bodies affected with 

 this deposite are minutely injected, the vessels 

 can be traced no farther than the enveloping 

 cyst. (Breschet.) It is also to be noticed that 

 it is never deposited exactly in the site of orga- 

 nic fibres, but always between them, and very 

 generally in the precise situation of the adipose 

 particles. These several circumstances show 

 that the melanose disease consists not in a de- 

 generation or conversion into another substance, 

 but in the deposition of a new form of matter 

 in the manner of a secretion. 



In what form the melanose substance is first 

 deposited we have few accurate facts to enable 

 us to form a judgment. Laennec is of opinion 

 that it is first deposited in a solid form, and 

 afterwards becomes fluid. The former he con- 

 siders the stage of crudity, the latter that of 

 softening (ramollisement.) Several facts, how- 

 ever, would lead to the conclusion, that when 

 first deposited it was fluid, and afterwards ac- 

 quired consistence. Thus in several dissec- 

 tions performed by Drs. Cullen and Carswell,* 

 the matter of the small tumours, which are 

 supposed to be of short duration, were found 

 to be softest, and sometimes as fluid as cream. 

 In like manner, in a case recorded by M. 

 Chomel, in which the disease was found in the 

 liver in the shape of large cysts, the melanose 

 matter was more fluid in the centre than in the 

 circumference of the cysts. Upon the whole, 

 if the melanose deposite be, as is supposed, an 

 inorganic secretion, the idea of its bring poured 

 forth from the vessels at first in a fluid or semi- 

 fluid state is most probable, and most consis- 

 tent with the usual phenomena and laws of 

 animal processes. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. Mnlpighi, de omento, pingue- 

 dine, et adiposis ductibus. Op. Omn. fol. Lond. 

 1686. C. A. De Berqen, Programma de Mem- 

 brana Cellulosa in Haller Disp. Anat. Select, 

 torn. iii. Haller, Elerae: ta Physiologiae, lib. i. 

 sect. 4. W. Hunter, On Cellular Memb. in Med. 

 Obs. and Inquiries, v.ii. p. 26. Bachiene, Diss. de 

 Adipe humano, 4to. Ultraj. 1774. Janssen, Pin- 

 guedinis Animalis consideratio. 8vo. L. B. 1784. 

 Redhead, Diss. de Adipe. 8vo. Edinb. 1789. Vogel, 

 Diss. sur la graisse. 8vo. Paris, 1806. Allmer, 

 Diss. In. De pinguedine animali, 4to. Jena; 1823. 

 Heusinger, System der Histologie. 8vo. Gruetz- 

 macher, De Medulla Ossium. (Rec. in Haller. Disp, 

 Anat. vol. vi.) Lorry, Sur la graisse (Mem. Soc. 

 R. de Med. 1779. Kuhn, De pinguedine. 4to. Lips. 

 1825. Bedard, Anatomie Generate, p. 156. 

 Chevreul, Rf.cherches Chimiqties sur les corps 

 gras d'origin animale, 8vo. Paris, 1823 ; and Ma- 

 gendie's Journ. de Phys. torn. iv. Raspail, in 

 Repertoire Gen. d'Anat. torn. iii. et iv. et Nouveau 

 Systeme de Chimie Organique, or Henderson's 

 Translation. 



(David Cralgie.J 



AGE. (Lat. fctas. Gr. SiAma. Germ. 

 Alter. Fr. age. Ital. eta.} This word, in its 

 most extended sense, may express any period of 

 duration. In reference to the human body it 

 is used to denote either the whole time occu- 

 pied by this system in passing through its 

 several stages from birth to decay, or, in a 

 more limited signification, that particular por- 

 tion of existence commonly designated old 

 age. It is in the former of these meanings 

 that we employ the prefix to the following arti- 

 cle ; in other words, we propose to give an 

 account of the organic and functional changes 

 which the human system undergoes, from the 

 commencement of extra-uterine life to the 

 period of its dissolution by natural decay. 



The term of human existence has been va- 

 riously divided, and in many instances with 

 a view to adapt its divisions to certain 

 fanciful notions respecting the power of num- 



* Trans. Med. Chir. Soc. Edinb. vol. i. p. 264. 



