MUCOUS MEMBRANE. 
particularly on the distribution of the blood- 
vessels, which Ruysch and Lieberkiihn particu- 
larly illustrated ; and, by the general advance 
of knowledge, the way was being gradually 
prepared towards that more philosophical ar- 
rangement of the tissues of the body, in con- 
formity with their intimate texture and con- 
nexions, of which the first example is to be 
found in the work of Bonn,* already alluded 
to. He here traces, with great accuracy, the 
continuity of the skin and mucous membranes 
at the different orifices of the body, and he 
clearly recognises their close structural rela- 
tion, considering the mucous membranes to be 
roductions of the skin. To our countryman, 
Dr. Carmichael Smith,+ we are indebted for 
the first application of this arrangement to the 
gd of pathological classification, and 
inel soon after followed in the same track.} 
But a new era dates from the remarkable 
works of Bichat,§ in which he delineated the 
structure, vital and other properties, and the 
relations of the different tissues of the body, 
and arranged them ona basis, which, though 
faulty in some of its details, has received no 
essential modification in its principles since his 
time, and entitles him to the praise of rare 
genius and sagacity. He seems to have clearly 
perceived the true connexion that exists between 
the skin, mucous membranes, and glands, al- 
though he failed to carry out his views into the 
subdivisions of his system, where he was still 
fettered by the crude notions of his predeces- 
sors. One of the most remarkable features in 
his work, bearing on the present subject, is the 
analogy he draws between the epidermis of the 
skin and the mucus of mucous membranes, an 
analogy which he discovered with the eye of 
the mind, which has been since often rejected, 
but which can now be shewn to be real by the 
eye of sense. 
Most writers of eminence since the time of 
Bichat have adopted the principal part. of his 
views, and some have advanced further towards 
a full recognition of the homology of the skin, 
mucous membranes, and glands, among whom 
must be mentioned, in particular, J. Miiller, 
whose classical work on the glands,|| published 
in 1830, placed him at once in the foremost 
rank among the anatomists of our own day. 
Subsequently to that date, the improve- 
ments in the construction of the microscope 
and the consequent employment of greater 
magnifying powers, have added an extraor- 
dinary stimulus to anatomical and physiolo- 
_ gical studies, and directed a host of inquirers 
_ into an almost unexplored field, from which 
the harvests already reaped give the most fa- 
 yourable earnest of future and rapid additions 
_ to the stores of knowledge. To the Germans 
_ is unequivocally due the merit of having far 
outstripped all other nations in the honourable 
* De continuationibus Membranarum. Roterod. 
+ Medical Communications, vol. ii. London, 
t Nosographie Philosophique, ‘Paris, 1798. 
Traité des Membranes, 1800. Anatomie Géné- 
7 e, 1801. 
_ _|| De Glandularam secernentium structura peni- 
tiori. Lipsiz, 1830, 
505 
path thus opened, and in no collateral path of 
inquiry which has been pursued to the same 
extent, has so much new, interesting, and im- 
portant information of an accurate and satis- 
factory character, been obtained, as in that 
which it has been my duty to treat of in the 
present article. The names of Purkinje, Va- 
lentin, Henle, and Schwann deserve primary 
honour in this place, and to these may be added 
those of Ehrenberg, Treviranus, R. Wagner, 
Boehm, Wasmann, Gruby, and Gerber. 
Among the French anatomists, MM. Turpin, 
Mandl, and Donné have contributed much, 
and our own countrymen have not been be- 
hind. Dr. Sharpey, Dr. Sprott Boyd, Dr. Todd, 
Mr. Nasmyth, Dr. Barry, and Mr. Toynbee, 
are all distinguished in this field of research.* 
In the present article J have endeavoured to 
combine with all the authentic information I 
could obtain from these sources, the results to 
which I have been brought by a two-years’ 
study of the anatomical characters of the whole 
mucous system. So rapid, however, are the 
daily advances of knowledge, that it is possible 
much has been omitted which is already in 
some shape before the public, and, on the other 
hand, that a few years may greatly modify the 
general views that are here set forth. As the 
anatomical details, however, have been all sub- 
stantiated by my own observations, except where 
otherwise stated, I am enabled to speak with 
more confidence of their correctness. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY.— (See also the list of works 
appended to the articles GLAND and SKIN. )—WMar- 
cellus Malpighius, De viscerum structura. Op. omnia, 
Lond. 1687. Peyer, De gland. intest. Amstel. 
1681. J.C. Brunner, De glandulis duodeni, Fran- 
cofurt. 1715. Lieberkiihn, De fabrica et act. vill. 
intest. hom. Lugd. Bat. 1744, 4to. Haller, Ele- 
menta Physiol. lib. xi. Bonn, Specimen Anato- 
mico-Medicum, &c. extat in Sandifort. Thesauro, 
vol. ii. Roterodami, 1769, xii. p.265. Carmichael 
Smith, In transactions of a Soc. for promoting 
Med, Knowl. vol. ii. Lond, 1790. Soemmering, 
Baue des Menschlichen korpers, Frankfurt a M. 
1791. R.A. Hedwig, Disquis. Ampull. Lieber- 
kuihnii physico-microse. Lipsiz, 1797, 4to. Pinel, 
Nosographie philosophique, Paris, 1798. X. Bi- 
chat, Traité des Membranes, Paris, 1800; Ana- 
tomie générale, 1801. K.A. Rudolphi, Progr. de 
humani corporis partibus simil. 4to. Gryph. 1809. 
J. F. Meckel, Handbuch der Menschlichen Ana- 
tomie, Bd. 1. Halle, 1815. C, Mayer, tiber His- 
tologie u. eine neue Eintheilung der Gewebe des 
Menschlichen Korpers, 8vo. Bonn, 1818. H. 
Buerger, Examen Microsc. vill. intest. Hale, 1819. 
fF, A. Béclard, Elémens d’anatomie générale, 8vo. 
Paris, 1825. Billard, De la membrane muqueuse 
gastro-intestinale, &c. 8vo. Paris, 1825. Craigie, 
Elements of general and pathological anatomy, 
Edinb. 1828. Doellinger, De vasis sanguiferis que 
villis intestinorum, &c. insunt, Monachii, 1828. 
E. H. Weber, Hildebrandt’s Anatomie, 1830. J. 
Miiller, De glandul. secernentium structura peni- 
tiori, Lipsie, 1830; and, in English, Mr. Solly’s 
i 9 translation. G. Breschet, Ann. des Sciences 
Nat. 1834. Purkinje & Valentin, Commentatio phy- 
siologica de phenom. motis vibratorii continui, 
&c. 4to. Wratislav. 1835. Isis, 1838, No.7. Boehm, 
* To these must now be added Mr. Goodsir, who, 
in a paper —~ which an abstract has been just pub- 
lished) read at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 
the 30th March, supports the view of secretion_here 
given, with several new proofs. See Lond. and 
Edin. Monthly Journal of Med. Science, May, 1842. 
