TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
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A
TREATISE
ON
THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
OF THE
Mucous Membranes;
WITH
ILLUSTRATIVE PATHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.
_From the French_
OF
XAVIER BICHAT.
BY JOSEPH HOULTON,
MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN LONDON.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. CALLOW,
Medical Library,
16, PRINCES STREET, CORNER OF GERRARD STREET, SOHO.
MDCCCXXI.
CHARLES WOOD, Printer,
Poppin's Court, Fleet Street, London.
THE
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
The works of no medical writer deserve a more attentive perusal
than those of the illustrious BICHAT. Erudite, observant, and
industrious, he, at an early age, reared a monument of science,
which will perpetuate his name and matchless talents. From the
rich treasures he has left, the Translator presumes to present
this Treatise in an English costume. Where all is excellent it
is difficult to make a satisfactory selection; yet this portion
of the author's productions merits the particular attention of
medical students and practitioners in general, as it leads to the
knowledge of the structure and economy of that part of the animal
organization, which, more than any other, is subject to morbid
affections.
The aim of the Translator has been faithfulness, clearness, and
conciseness, rather than elegance: how he has fulfilled his
intention he must leave to the decision of the candid Reader.
SAFFRON WALDEN,
JULY 1, 1821.
CONTENTS.
SECT. PAGE
I. _Of the Situation and Number of Mucous Membranes_ 1
II. _Of the Exterior Organization of Mucous Membranes_ 9
III. _Of the Interior Organization of Mucous Membranes_ 20
IV. _Of the Glands of Mucous Membranes_ 37
V. _Of the Vascular System of Mucous Membranes_ 54
VI. _Of the Variations in the Organization of Mucous Membranes_ 64
VII. _Of the Vital Powers of Mucous Membranes_ 70
VIII. _Of the Sympathies of Mucous Membranes_ 81
IX. _Of the Functions of Mucous Membranes_ 85
X. _Remarks on the Affections of Mucous Membranes_ 98
A
TREATISE
ON
MUCOUS MEMBRANES.
SECTION I.
OF THE SITUATION AND NUMBER OF MUCOUS MEMBRANES.
1. The Mucous Membranes occupy the interior of those cavities,
which, by various openings, communicate with the skin. Their
number, at the first view, appears very considerable; for the
organs within which they are reflected are numerous. The stomach,
bladder, urethra, uterus, ureters, the intestines, &c., borrow from
these membranes a part of their structure: nevertheless, if it be
considered, that they are continuous throughout, that everywhere
they are observed to be extended from one organ to others, arising,
as they did at first, from the skin, their number will appear to
be singularly limited. In fact, in thus contemplating them, not as
insulated in each part, but as continued over various organs, it
will appear that they are reducible to two general surfaces.
2. The first of these two surfaces, entering by the mouth, nose,
and anterior surface of the eye, (1) lines the first and second
of these cavities: from the first it extends into the excretory
ducts of the parotid and submaxillary glands; from the other it is
continued into all the sinuses, it forms the tunica conjunctiva,
descends by the puncta lacrymalia through the canal and lacrymal
sac to the nose. (2) It descends into the pharynx, and there
furnishes the inner surface of the Eustachian tube, and thence
it penetrates and lines the internal ear. (3) It sinks into the
trachea, and spreads itself over all the air passages. (4) It
enters the œsophagus and stomach. (5) It extends into the duodenum,
where it furnishes two branches, one destined to the ductus
communis choledochus, to the numerous rami of the hepatic duct, to
the cystic duct and gall bladder; the other to the pancreatic duct
and its various ramifications. (6) It is continued into the small
and large intestines, and finally terminates at the anus, where it
is identified with the skin.
3. The second general mucous membrane enters, in men, by the
urethra, and thence spreads from one part through the bladder,
ureters, pelves, calices, papillæ, and uriniferous tubes; from the
other it sinks into the excretory ducts of the prostate gland,
into the ejaculatory ducts, the vesicula seminales, the vassa
defferentia, and the infinitely convoluted branches from which they
arise. In women, this membrane enters by the vulva, and from one
part penetrates the urethra, and is distributed, as in men, through
the urinary organs; from the other part it extends into the vagina,
which it lines, as it also does the uterus and the fallopian tubes,
and through the apertures at the extremities of these ducts it
comes in contact with the peritoneum. This is the only example
in the economy, of a communication between the mucous and serous
surfaces.
4. This manner of describing the track of the mucous surfaces by
saying that they extend, sink, penetrate, &c., from one cavity
to another, is certainly not conformable to the march of nature,
which forms in each organ the membranes that belong to it, and
does not thus extend them from one to the other; but our manner
of conceiving is best accommodated by this language, of which the
least reflection will rectify the sense.
5. In thus bringing all the mucous surfaces to two general
membranes, I am supported, not only by anatomical inspection,
but pathological observation also furnishes me with lines of
demarcation between the two, and with points of contact between
the different portions of the membranes of which each is the
assemblage. In the various sketches of epidemic catarrhs made
by authors, we frequently see one of these membranes has been
affected throughout its extent, whilst the other, on the contrary,
has remained untouched. It is not uncommon to observe a general
affection of the first, _viz._ that which extends from the mouth,
nose, and anterior surface of the eye, into the alimentary canal
and bronchi. The last epidemic observed at Paris, with which M.
Pinel was himself affected, bore this character: that of 1761,
described by Rayons, presented the same feature: that of 1732,
described in the Memoirs of the Edinburgh Society, was remarkable
for a like phenomenon. Now we do not see at the same time a
corresponding affection in the mucous membrane which spreads over
the organs of urine and of generation. Here is, therefore, (1)
an analogy between the different portions of the first, by the
uniformity of the affection; (2) a line of demarcation between
them, by the healthy state of the one and the disease of the other.
6. We observe also, that irritation on any one point of these
membranes frequently produces a pain in another point of the same
membrane, which is not irritated; thus a stone in the bladder
causes a pain at the end of the glans, worms in the intestines
produce an itching at the nose, &c. &c. Now in these phenomena,
which are purely sympathetic, it is extremely rare that the partial
irritation of one of these two membranes produces a painful
affection in a part of the other.
7. We ought, therefore, from inspection and observation, to
consider the mucous surface in general as formed by two grand
membranes, spread over several organs, and having no communication
with each other but by the skin, which is intermediate, and which,
being continuous with both, thus concurs with them to form a
general membrane, entire throughout, enveloping the exterior of the
animal, and extending to the interior over most of its essential
parts. It should seem, that there exists important relations
between the internal and external portions of this unique membrane,
and this we shall soon be shown by ulterior researches.