OP THE HAIRS. 231 



by the other, which is deep and furnished with implanted fila- 

 ments like roots, it is plunged into the sub-cutaneous cellular 

 tissue. Externally, it is. formed by a capsular, firm, coria- 

 cious, white membrane, which is continuous with the dermis 

 by its superficial extremity. Inside this membrane is another, 

 thinner, soft, reddish, or variously coloured, and which appears 

 to be a continuation of the mucous body. The cavity of this 

 membranous follicle is filled in a great measure by a bulb or 

 conical papilla, adhering by its base to the bottom of the cavi- 

 ty and free at its summit, which rises towards the orifice of 

 the follicle. 



Blood vessels reach the papillae, according to Gautier, by 

 the mouth of the bulb, creeping between these two membran- 

 ous layers, and according to my own observations, by the bot- 

 tom. By dissection I have also followed nervous threads even 

 into the root of the follicle, which I consequently consider as 

 being formed by vessels, nerves and cellular tissue. 



The bulbs of the hairs, then, seem to consist in a little piece 

 of excavated skin, depressed or doubled over, surmounted by 

 a papilla, and furnished with nerves and vessels, which, in 

 comparison with the smallness of the space where they are 

 distributed, are voluminous. 



In the thickness of the neck of this piliferous bulb, we find 

 several little sebaceous follicles, circularly arranged. 



237. The stem of the hair is planted by one of its extremi- 

 ties in the piliferous bulb, and is free for the rest of its extent. 

 Its form is conoid, its free extremity being a little thinner 

 than the rest. Its length is very variable, its thickness like- 

 wise. The base is hollow and lodged in the bulb where it 

 embraces the papilla; the summit is often split; whatever "be 

 the colour of the hair, its root is always white and diaphanous; 

 the portion contained within the bulb is always softer than the 

 remainder, its most inferior portion, that which covers the 

 papillae, is perfectly fluid. It has been said, that the surface 

 of the hair was scaly, or covered with microscopic asperities, 

 free near the summit, and adherent at the root; I have never 

 been able to see them. 



338. The connexion of the hair with the skin is effected 

 31 





