Papilla

Definition and stakes

1911 Encyclopædia Britannica (1911)

“ These papillae, which are found everywhere, are the primary papillae; they are covered with small, scale-like projections called secondary papillae, and are specially developed on the dorsal surface, less so on the ventral. Each papilla carries at its extremity a well-marked spine. ”
Source: Wikisource

Ray Vaughn Pierce,  The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English

“ It is owing to their perfect development, that the finger-tips are adapted to receive the most delicate impressions of touch. Although every part of the skin is sensitive, yet the papillæ are extremely so, for they are the principal means through which the impressions of objects are communicated. Each papilla not only contains a minute vein and artery, but it also incloses a loop of sensitive nerves. When the body is exposed to cold, these papillæ can be more distinctly seen in the form of prominences, commonly known as "goose-pimples." ”
Source: Gutenberg

Sir M. Foster,  Physiology

“ These are called villi; they are not unlike the papillæ of the skin (Fig. 15) , if you suppose all the epidermis stripped except the bottom row of cells (d) , and the papilla itself pulled out a good deal. Fig. 18 is a sketch to illustrate the structure of a villus. The epithelium (b) , you see, is made up of a single row of cells. Beneath the epithelium, just as in the papilla of the skin, is a network of blood capillaries, shown, for convenience, in the right-hand villus only. ”
Source: Gutenberg

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