Dermis

Drawing of skin structure

Description

The skin of mammals is composed of an outer epidermis, a center dermis layer and an inner hypodermis layer. The dermis, or corium, is a dense, interconnected tissue layer that contains hair follicles, sweat glands, nerve endings and blood vessels. The dermis is the strongest part of the skin and is used to produce leather.

Synonyms and Related Terms

corium; cutis; derma; Dermis (Deut., Esp., Ned.); derme (Port.); läderhuden (Sven.); lederhuid (Ned.)

Additional Images

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  Hagfish skin

Authority

• Hermann Kuhn, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art and Antiquities, Butterworths, London, 1986

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "dermis." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 17 Nov. 2004 .

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermis (Accessed Jan. 25, 2006)

• 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