LYMPHOID TISSUES 03

This low power micrograph shows portions of the lingual tonsils, which form large bumps on the posterior part of the tongue. The lumen of the oral cavity is to the far right, in immediate contact with the stratified squamous epithelium (SSE) that covers the tongue. The connective tissue upon which the SSE rests has multiple focal accumulations of lymphocytes, each of which is a lymph nodule (one of the nodules is spanned by the nearly vertical bar). A cluster of such nodules - NOT surrounded by a connective tissue capsule - is called a tonsil, and each tonsil is named based on its anatomical location. The arrow indicates a deep invagination of the surface epithelium - called a crypt - down into the tonsil. To the left of the field are seen other structures typical of the tongue, including mucous glands and bundles of skeletal muscle separated by patches of connective tissue. Not well seen here is the fact that the ducts of the mucous glands usually drain into the bases of the crypts.

Slide L-4, field P8-9/Q8-9 of finder slide A, 2.5X objective