The anatomy of the thymus gland / by Sir Astley Cooper.

  • Astley Cooper
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The anatomy of the thymus gland / by Sir Astley Cooper. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    possil)le respect, but I cannot agree with the opinion that the structure of the Thymus and absor])ent Glands is similar; one is conglol^ate and the other conglomerate; one is firm and compact, and the other is loose and pulpv; the one contains cells of considerable magnitude when in a distended state, whilst in the absorbent Glands the cavities are small and with so much difficulty traced that there is still a doubt if they be cellular or vascular. The office which the Thpnus is designed to perform is evidently connected with the ffjetal stages of existence, as it gradually lessens soon after the child is born, and even when the Gland remains of considerable bulk, its secretoiy cavities are nuich diminished. (See Plate T\j It has been already stated, that this Gland secretes a great abundance of white fluid; that it is situated between the veins in which the great absorbent ducts of the body termi- nate ; that to each cornu is attached a large absorbent duct in the foetal calf, capable of being filled with coarse injec- tion, and that this vessel terminates at the junction of the jugular veins in the vena innominata. This fluid, although constantly found in the Innnan f(rtus, having the appearance of chyle, viz. white like cream, but with a small admixture of red globules, is not easily procured in sufficient quantity to make it the subject of chemical