The dissector's manual of practical and surgical anatomy / By Erasmus Wilson.

  • Wilson, Erasmus, Sir, 1809-1884.
Date:
1856
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The dissector's manual of practical and surgical anatomy / By Erasmus Wilson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    divided, and in precisely the same order. Thus the student will perceive that one principal object of dissection is the practice of his knife in the division and separation of these parts, so as to enable him to accomplish his end with ease and dexterity. All the operations of dissection should be conducted with the same delicacy that is observed in the treatment of the living subject. The result of such practice must be obvious—the attainment of that confidence and precision in surgical manipulations, which are so necessary to the successful surgeon. Now, let us inquire into the nature of the structures composing the preceding table. The INTEGUMENT (intcgerc, to cover in) is the investing cover- ing of the entire body; in common parlance, the skin: it consists of the epiderma and derma. The Epiderma (cuticle, scarfskin) is the thin, horny layer which forms the surface of the integument. It is produced by the derma, upon which it is exactly moulded; is dense and hard on the outer surface, but softer within; hence it has been described as consisting of two layers, of which the inner and deeper layer is called rete mucosum (rete, because the depressions caused by the papillae of the derma give it the appearance of a net; mucosum, from its softness). In intimate structure, the epiderma is com- posed of nucleated cells, which are thick in the part called rete mucosum, but flattened into thin scales in the outer layer. These cells are the seat of the pigment of the skin; which has a deeper hue in the thick and newly-formed cells than in the scales of the horny layer, where it is pale and almost lost, from drying. The epiderma is very thick in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, and, in a state of increased density, constitutes the nails. The Z>erma, or cutis, or true skin, also presents a superficial and a deep layer. The former, constituting the surface of the derma, and formed into numberless minute papiliie, is termed the papillary layer. The latter, being the chief bulk of the derma, is the corium. The papillary layer contains the capilla- ries and ultimate nervous plexuses of the skin; the corium is composed of fibres and strands of fibrous tissue, which form meshes of extreme fineness in the superficial portion of the layer, and coarser meshes in its deeper part. The meshes of the corium are occupied by fat, and give passage to the vessels and nerves of the papillary layer. The SUPERFICIAL FASCIA (fascia, a bandage), placed immediately beneath the tegument over every part of the body, is the medium of connection between that layer and the deeper parts. It con- sists of fil)ro-cclluhir tissue, in which is deposited an abundance of adipose tissue. The fat being a bad conductor of caloric, serves to retain the warmth of the body; while it forms at the