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These are morphological elements of mucous, synovial and serous membranes, and take their name from epi, upon, and tithemi, to place, and mean placed upon.
They are cells with protoplasmic contents. There are three kinds as to shapes: 1. Pavement. 2. Cylinder. 3. Ciliate.
Their seats are as follows:
Pavement or Tessellated Epithelia.—Besides the above named seats they are found upon the skin, hair follicles, nails and toe matrices, on the membranes of the aqueous protoplasmic humor, the choroid, the capsule of the lens, the retina, the conjunctiva of the ball of the eye, the cavity of the tympanum, the lower half of the pharynx, the œsophagus, the endocardium, some veins, the capillaries, all glands and ducts, the vagina and female urethra, the bladder, uterus, kidneys, pelvis and tubules.
In the arteries and many veins they are spindleshaped.
Cylinder Epithelia.—In mucous membranes, in Lieberkuhn's follicles, all the ducts of the glands