Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 1010
| it is pierced behind by the optic nerve, and in this situation is firmly adherent to the sclera. It is thicker behind than in front. Its outer surface is loosely connected by the lamina suprachorioidea with the sclera; its inner surface is attached to the pigmented layer of the retina. |
Structure.—The choroid consists mainly of a dense capillary plexus, and of small arteries and veins carrying blood to and returning it from this plexus. On its external surface is a thin membrane, the lamina suprachorioidea, composed of delicate non-vascular lamellæ—each lamella consisting of a net-work of fine elastic fibers among which are branched pigment cells. The spaces between the lamellæ are lined by endothelium, and open freely into the perichoroidal lymph space, which, in its turn, communicates with the periscleral space by the perforations in the sclera through which the vessels and nerves are transmitted. |
| Internal to this lamina is the choroid proper, consisting of two layers: an outer, composed of small arteries and veins, with pigment cells interspersed between them; and an inner, consisting of a capillary plexus. The outer layer (lamina vasculosa) consists, in part, of the larger branches of the short ciliary arteries which run forward between the veins, before they bend inward to end in the capillaries, but is formed principally of veins, named, from their arrangement, the venæ vorticosæ. They converge to four or five equidistant trunks, which pierce the sclera about midway between the sclero-corneal junction and the entrance of the optic nerve. Interspersed between the vessels are dark star-shaped pigment cells, the processes of which, communicating with those of neighboring cells, form a delicate net-work or stroma, which toward the inner surface of the choroid loses its pigmentary character. The inner layer (lamina choriocapillaris) consists of an exceedingly fine capillary plexus, formed by the short ciliary vessels; the net-work is closer and finer in the posterior than in the anterior part of the choroid. About 1.25 cm. behind the cornea its meshes become larger, and are continuous with those of the ciliary processes. These two laminæ are connected by a stratum intermedium consisting of fine elastic fibers. On the inner surface of the lamina choriocapillaris is a very thin, structureless, or faintly fibrous membrane, called the lamina basalis; it is closely connected with the stroma of the choroid, and separates it from the pigmentary layer of the retina. |
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FIG. 874– The veins of the choroid. (Enlarged.) (See enlarged image) |
| One of the functions of the choroid is to provide nutrition for the retina, and to convey vessels and nerves to the ciliary body and iris. |
Tapetum.—This name is applied to the outer and posterior part of the choroid, which in many animals presents an iridescent appearance. |
The Ciliary Body (corpus ciliare).—The ciliary body comprises the orbiculus ciliaris, the ciliary processes, and the Ciliaris muscle. |
| The orbiculus ciliaris is a zone of about 4 mm. in width, directly continuous with the anterior part of the choroid; it presents numerous ridges arranged in a radial manner (Fig. 875). |
| The ciliary processes (processus ciliares) are formed by the inward folding of the various layers of the choroid, i.e., the choroid proper and the lamina basalis, and are received between corresponding foldings of the suspensory ligament of the lens. They are arranged in a circle, and form a sort of frill behind the iris, around the margin of the lens (Fig. 875). They vary from sixty to eighty in number, lie side by side, and may be divided into large and small; the former are about 2.5 mm. in length, and the latter, consisting of about one-third of the entire number, are situated in spaces between them, but without regular arrangement. They are attached by their periphery to three or four of the ridges of the orbiculus ciliaris, and are continuous with the layers of the choroid: their opposite extremities are free and rounded, and are directed toward the posterior chamber of the eyeball and |