Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/852

 830 GLAND GLANDERS caBcal region, under INTESTINE ; the lachrymal glands under EYE; and the so-called glands of Pacchioni and the pineal body or gland are alluded to in the article BKAIN. The air passages of the chest and head, the alimentary canal above the stomach, and the genito-uri- nary apparatus, are provided with solitary and aggregated glands and follicles for the secretion of their lubricating mucus ; the tonsils are glan- dular masses principally, and there are numer- ous follicles in the posterior fauces, and in the neighborhood of the epiglottis and entrance to the larynx, whose diseased secretions and ulcer- ation constitute the kind of folliculitis popu- larly called "clergyman's sore throat." An- other system is that of the vascular or ductless glands, which possess all the elements of glan- dular structure, except the efferent ducts ; re- storing therefore to the blood whatever they take from it, it is generally admitted that they perform some part in the process of sanguifica- tion, probably acting upon such nutrient mate- rials as are taken up directly by the blood vessels without in the first instance passing through the absorbents. These glands are the spleen on the left side of the abdominal cavity; the thymus gland, a foatal organ in the anterior mediastinum ; the thyroid body, on the anterior portion of the neck ; and the supra-renal cap- sules, surmounting the kidneys ; these will be described in their alphabetical order. They are composed of vesicles or sacculi, simple and closed, or branched, of a delicate membrane surrounded with a vascular plexus, and filled with an albuminous fluid containing fat gran- ules and nucleated cells. The opinion that these glands serve for the higher organization of the blood materials is supported by the fact that they are especially large and active du- ring fetal life and childhood, when the most abundant supply of nutrient fluids is necessary. They are not essential to life in the adult ; the thymus entirely disappears, the thyroid may be completely disorganized, and the spleen be removed (as has been often done in animals), without fatal consequences; the supra-renal capsules seem to be connected with the produc- tion of pigment, and their morbid condition or atrophy is connected with the peculiar disease known as "bronzed skin." The last group in- cludes the absorbent glands, the patches of Peyer, the mesenteric, and the lymphatic glands. The lacteals and the fluid they convey have been described under ABSORPTION and CHYLE. Peyer's glands, most numerous to- ward the ileo-csecal valve, are intimately con- nected with the lacteals ; whether single or in clusters, they are always in that portion of the intestine which is opposite the mesentery ; they are capsules, containing fatty and albuminous matters, with nuclear particles and cells, all ap- parently undergoing rapid changes ; the exte- rior and interior of the capsules are freely sup- plied with blood. In the mesentery are the mesenteric glands, which bear the same rela- tion to the lacteals as the absorbent glands to the lymphatics; each gland is enclosed by a fibrous sheath, which forms by its partitions an internal supporting framework ; the interve- ning alveoli are filled with a grayish pulp, as in Peyer's patches, penetrated by a fine capillary plexus, and in free communication with the afferent and efferent ducts between which they are situated; the number of corpuscles of the chyle is greatly increased by passing through these glands, which perform a most important part in the blood-making or assimilating pro- cess. No lacteal or lymphatic reaches the termi- nal thoracic duct without passing through one or more of these glands. In the lower vertebrata plexuses of lymphatics occupy the places of the glands of birds and mammals. Glands are situated all along the course of the lymphatic vessels, both superficial and deep-seated. Fa- miliar examples are the glands in the groin, the seat of syphilitic and scrofulous abscesses, and often swollen from irritation of any por- tion of the lower extremity ; the axillary glands in the armpit, often requiring surgical interfe- rence for enlargements and abscesses ; and the glands on the sides of the neck, frequently the seat of scrofulous suppuration. GLANDERS, a malignant disease of the horse and other equine species, of a highly contagious character, and which may be communicated to man, but not, it is said, to other animals. It occurs in two forms, depending on the parts affected. When in the lymphatic system it is called farcy ; when in the nasal cavities, glan- ders. The pus of one will produce the other, and farcy always terminates in glanders, unless arrested. Farcy commences with hard cord- like swellings of the lymphatic vessels and glands, called farcy buds, which suppurate and form fistulous ulcers, discharging sanious pus. But it must riot be understood that glanders usually commences in farcy; it is most com- monly primary. In glanders as well as in farcy the blood is deficient in red globules, and otherwise unfit to nourish the body. The respiration is weak, and there is cough, and usually the bowels are relaxed. It is said to be produced by continuous bad treatment, overcrowding in filthy and particularly in un- ventilated stables, and other causes which pro- duce a depraved state of the system. Eng- lish cavalry horses are said to have been affected with glanders from such causes in the Crimea in 1854. Glanders may be divi- ded into three stages. In the first it is diffi- cult to distinguish the disease with certainty. There is a continuous serous discharge from one or both nostrils, which becomes thick and glairy, like the white of an egg. Ulceration of the pituitary membrane is considered con- clusive of its presence, but this may be so far- up the passages as not to be seen. The dis- charge and cough may be the effect of nasal catarrh. A test is sometimes applied by ad- ministering three successive eight-ounce doses of aloes, allowing two or three days to elapse between the doses. A glandered horse will