Epidermis
Description
The outermost, nonsensitive layer of skin in an animal or a plant. Epidermis, or cuticle, covers the middle dermis (cutis, corium) layer while the innermost layer is known as the hypodermis (subcutis). In humans, the epidermis is composed of four layers, which are (from the outside):
1) a layer of dead, horny, flattened cells that form a continuous membrane,
2) a layer of oily transparent cells,
3) one or more layers of granular cells and
4) a layer of rounded pigmented cells.
The epidermis provides protection from water, sunlight, dirt, bacteria, and other potentially dangerous materials. In dehairing processes, the epidermis is attacked by enzymes or alkalis.
Synonyms and Related Terms
epithelial cells;
Additional Information
M.Florian, D.Kronkright, R.Norton, The Conservation of Artifacts Made from Plant Materials, Getty Conservation Institute, 1990.
Authority
- Hermann Kuhn, Hermann Kuhn, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art and Antiquities, Butterworths, London, 1986
- Mary-Lou Florian, Dale Paul Kronkright, Ruth E. Norton, Mary-Lou Florian, Dale Paul Kronkright, Ruth E. Norton, The Conservation of Artifacts Made from Plant Materials, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 1990
- Website address 1, Website address 1 Comment: Olympus Microscopy Resource Center at http://www.olympusmicro.com/galleries/abramowitz/index.html
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidermis (Accessed Nov. 2, 2005)
- Random House, Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
- The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998