An anatomical study of the furless condition in rabbits

A histological study of Hammond's simple recessive ‘furless’ rabbits was made from many series of sections taken from the skin of both the normal and furless rabbits of several pertinent ages. It was found that the external absence of under-hair or fur exists because of a failure of the hairs of these follicles to erupt. This failure is due to a premature keratinization which first affects the sebaceous glands and then the inner epithelial sheath. The resulting abnormal channel allows an erratic escape, especially of the regenerating hair above the incomplete inner sheath into the surrounding connective tissue, where the escaped part of the hair atrophies. The final condition shows an inflammatory reaction in the areolar tissue here. There is no check on the growth from the bulb of the root. Other elements of the skin verify this excessive keratinization. The cause of the abnormal metabolic changes conceivably lies in an inadequate tissue supply of oxygen or nutrition. The regulator may be the sympathetic system directly or indirectly (by hormone action), or it may be an inhibitor resident in the integument itself.