Histology is the scientific branch that studies tissues. The root term [-hist-] is used to mean "tissues", but how the term came to be used is somewhat convoluted. It arises from the Greek [histos], which indicates the mast of a ship, it then was used to denote a Greek weaver's loom central mast (where the fabric is woven horizontally), and then it was used to indicate that which was woven [histios], the fabric, or the "tissues". The suffix [-ology] also has Greek origin from [logos] meaning a "book", a "treatise" or "to study". The concept of the body being formed by different tissues was pioneered by Marie-Francois Xavier Bichat (1771-1802) who called them "membranes" Bichat is considered to be the "father of Histology". The image shows a histological slide of cardiac muscle. Click on the image for a larger depiction. |
Original image by S. Girod and A. Becker, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
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