Pancreas

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. In the chapter on histology, and again later under the heading of diabetes, we have discussed the structure and supposed functions of those characteristic groups of cells known as the islands of Langerhans. In doing so we have endeavoured to impartially summarise the evidence for and against the contending views that are held with regard to them, but, as will be gathered from the text, we personally are of opinion that the balance of available evidence strongly points to their being independent struc tures related to the control of carbohydrate metabolism within the body that the pancreas undoubtedly exerts.