226 



THE FLUIDS. 



Fig. 134. 



over the conoidal ones from the interior of the follicles. In the 

 Meibomian secretion and the cerumen, peculiar oval, angular, or 

 roundish cells are found, from 34^0 to TG'HO of an i n ch in diameter, 

 containing a pale nucleus and nucleoli, with minute dark, sharply 

 defined granules, and a few fat-globules. 



When in a state of inflammation, the sebaceous follicles, like the 

 mucous, produce (cytoid) pus corpuscles. Mere irritation may also 



give rise to them. They 

 are best seen in cases of 

 inflammation of the exter- 

 nal auditory passage, and 

 of the Meibomian glands, 

 in balanitis, and in acne; 

 there being, in these cases, 

 also an exudation in which 

 the cytoid corpuscles are 

 developed. The parasite 

 called acarus folUculorum 

 is often found in the nor- 

 mal secretion of the seba- 

 ceous follicles. (Fig. 134.) 



The fluid portion of these 

 secretions contains an albu- 

 minous substance not yet 

 accurately recognized. But fat and lipoids constitute the principal 

 part of them. It constitutes 47.5 per cent, of the fernix caseosa 

 of the full grown foetus (Lehmann), and 52.8 per cent, of the smegma 

 of the human prepuce. 1 It has been ascertained that the liquor 

 amnii contains most fat at the end of pregnancy; it being derived 

 from the sebaceous follicles of the foetus. In the vernix caseosa 

 many hairs are always to be found; this tissue being intimately 

 associated with the sebaceous follicles, as will be shown. The mar- 

 garates and oleates of potash, soda, and ammonia are also elements 

 of these secretions. Cholesterine is found in the smegma prseputii, 

 and a substance very similar to it, but not crystallizable, in vernix 

 caseosa. Berzelius found a peculiar fatty substance in the ce- 

 rumen. 



The sebaceous follicles are always situated close, or very near, to 



Entozoa from the sebaceous follicles, a. Two seen in 

 their ordinary position in the orifice of one of the seba- 

 ceous follicles of the scalp. 6. Short variety, c. Long 

 variety. 



1 Kolliker asserts that the smegma prseputii is formed almost exclusively of 

 the epithelial cells of the prepuce. (See Chapter X.) 



