VESSELS AND NERVES OF THE SKIN. 483 



into the papillae themselves, where they terminate in a close capil- 



lary network. This consists ls, of a horizontal portion lying 



immediately under the surface covered by 



the Malpighian layer, composed of vessels Fig- 322. 



T2su fco SI'UTJ f an inch, and of capillaries 



4 oVo to 2*03 f an i ncn m diameter, with 



narrow meshes ; and, 2d7y, of many loops 



of the finest vessels, ( 7 oW to 3 oVo of an 



inch) given off to the papillae. (Fig. 322.) 



Generally, each papilla has its own capillary 



loop, which runs either in its axis or near Vessels of the " papilla5 from the 



the Surface, almOSt tO itS apex. The .COm- heel - a - Terminal arterial twig. 

 _ , v. Commencing vein. (Magnified 



pound papillae have several loops. 8 o diameters.) 



Lymphatic vessels also exist in the sub- 



cutaneous areolar tissue, and form a very close network of fine 

 vessels in its outermost part, 3 J n to yj^ of an inch in diameter. 



The Nerves of the Skin. 



But few nerves exist in the subcutaneous areolar tissue ; but 

 these, entering the corium, anastomose frequently, and form rich 

 terminal plexuses. Of these, the deeper portions consist of fine 

 branches, still containing many nerve-fibres, with wide meshes; 

 while the superficial portions consist of fibres, either single or 

 united in pairs, with narrow meshes. In this last there also occur 

 (perhaps not in all the fibres) actual divisions of the nerve-fibres, 

 generally at an acute angle, into two subdivisions ; and from the 

 plexus itself the fibres finally enter the base of the papillae in pairs, 

 running to their extremities, and then uniting in a loop. (Fig. 323.) 

 The nerve-fibres in the papillae vary from j-g^w to g oW -of an inch. 

 The axile or tactile corpuscles (corpuscula tactus), described by K. 

 Wagner (Fig. 323), are regarded by Kolliker as consisting of col- 

 lagenous tissue, with much undeveloped elastic tissue. These exist 

 only in a small proportion of the papillae about 1 in 4 of those 

 on the first joint of the index finger. (Meissner.} They resemble a 

 fir-cone in form, and occupy one-third to two-thirds of the width of 

 the summit of the papilla, and one-fourth to three-fourths of its 

 length. The conclusion of Wagner, that the papillae without these 

 corpuscles contain vessels only, but not nerves, needs further con 

 firmation. At any rate, dark-bordered nerve-fibres are found in 

 vascular papillae without axile corpuscles, in the sole of the foot 



