1935 Zimmermann

 
Über einige Formverhältnisse der Haarfollikel des Menschen. Zeitschrift f mikr-anat. Forschung. 1935;38:503-53 (Figs. 8 & 9).

View Figure  		Fig. 8  [Fig. 16] Bulge area of a coarse hair follicle from the labium majora of a 75-year-old woman. Hair thickness 72.5 m. Rests of inner root sheath. Multiple tubular appendages with and without concentric layered, bright anuclear content. (Reproduced with permission.)

View Figure  		Fig. 9  [Fig. 17] Bulge area of a hair follicle from the parotid area of a 32-year-old woman. Spiral structure of the outer root sheath. Bair thickness 28 p.m. Arrector fibers radiate arch-like into the hair follicle. Traction on them appears to have coursed the spiral structure. Leitz, binoc. Obj: 5, Ok.3. (Reproduced with permission.)
 

Message

 
Protuberances of "the bulge" take two forms, one a solid cone and the other a pedunculated "bubble" within which are very thin, anuclear, concentric layers.
 
The persistence of protuberances of "the bulge" indicates that they serve a purpose, which could be production of a hormone.
 

Critique

 
Zimmermann noted, correctly, solid protuberant structures of bulges, but those described by him as "bubbles" are not truly bulges. Those cystic outpouchings derive not only from the isthmus, but also episodically from the upper part of the stem. Furthermore, unlike bulges that are invariable components of all normal follicles, both vellus and terminal ones, "bubbles" seem to arise only on terminal follicles and then very uncommonly. The tiny "cysts" house corneocytes that are arrayed concentrically in delicate, laminated fashion. What these "bubbles" represent has yet to be determined, but they are not conventional bulges.
 
Zimmermann offered no evidence to support his speculation that "the bulge" manufactures hormones. In our view, bulges serve only as attachment sites for the muscle of hair erection.