SUDORIPAROUS GLANDS 



207 



a finely granular cytoplasm. The basal portion of their cytoplasm 

 is often slightly rodded and the cells are so closely pressed together 

 that it is frequently impossible to distinguish their outlines. The 

 secreting cells are disposed in a single layer and, except after 

 active secretion, are so tall as to leave only a very narrow, central, 

 glandular lumen. During secretory activity the cells become 

 shrunken and their cytoplasm more granular. After a period of 

 rest the cytoplasm again becomes clear and vesicular in appearance 

 and the cells are much distended. 



The ducts are lined by a double, occasionally triple, layer of 

 somewhat flattened epithelial cells, which rest upon a delicate 

 membrana propria continuous with that of the secreting portion. 

 The gross diameter of the duct is much less than that of the se- 

 creting portion of the gland, yet the lumen of the duct is usually the 

 larger. That portion of the duct which is lined by the thin strati- 

 fied epithelial layer pursues a spiral course through the subcuta- 



it 



FIG. 182. SEVERAL COILS OF A SUDORIPAROUS GLAND OF THE HUMAN FINGER. 



a, secreting portions, their lumen containing traces of secretion ; 6, ducts. Hematein 



and picro-fuchsin. x 550. 



neous tissue and the derma. It finally reaches the epidermis, 

 which it enters in the interval between the dermal papillae (inter- 

 papillary portion of the epidermis). Its lining epithelium is con- 

 tinuous with that of the stratum germinativum, and in its course 

 through the epidermis the wall of the duct consists solely of the 

 surrounding epidermal cells. The stratum granulosum and adja- 



