132 



ANATOMY FOR NURSES 



[Chap. VIII 



that, starting at the free surface, the order of the tissues is as 

 follows : — 



(1) Epithelium. 



(2) Basement membrane. 



(3) Corium. 



(4) Muscularis mucosae. 



(1) The epithelium is the most constant part of a mucous 

 membrane, being continued over certain regions to which the 

 other parts of the membrane cannot be traced. It may be scaly 



Fig. 91. 



Diagram of the Female Genito-urinary Mucous Membrane, 

 SHOWING Continuity of all its P.\rts. (Gerrish.) 



and stratified, as in the throat, columnar, as in the intestine, or 

 ciliated, as in the respiratory tract. 



(2) The basement membrane consists of a layer of flattened 

 cells, and is really j)art of the corium. 



(3) The corium of a mucous membrane is composed of either 

 areolar or hinphoid connective tissue. It is generally much 

 thicker than in serous or synovial membranes, and varies much 

 in structure in different parts. 



(4) The muscularis mucosae consists, as previously stated, 

 of a thin layer of muscular tissue. 



The mucous membranes are attached to the parts beneath them 

 by areolar tissue, here named " submucous," and which differs 

 greatly in quantity as well as in consistency in different parts. 

 The connection is in some cases close and firm, as in the cavity 



