Abstract
Introduction The extraordinary capacity of the mammalian cornea to become hydrated has been recognized for many years. Leber recorded the phenomenon in 1873 and further noted that hydration led to opacity. Aurell and Holmgren (1953) have quantitated this characteristic of corneal tissue and have found that an excised cornea in water may swell as much as 13 times its normal volume, whereas a scleral segment under equivalent treatment cannot increase its volume more than threefold. The fact that an excised cornea will swell even when immersed in tears or aqueous humor, the fluids which normally bathe it, raises the question as to what the living, intact tissue does to prevent its continual hydration. A number of suggestions have been made to explain this peculiarity of corneal tissue and the mechanisms which govern it in life. Woodin (1950) proposes that the corneal mucoitin polysaccharide may account for the capacity to take
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