horny and cornea and layers of the cornea

Now that we have solved the issue of which word to use to describe a needle-like point (acerose), we can digress by looking at two of the other words beginning in acer which appear in the Unabridged: acerous and acervate. There are two "acerous"(es) in the Unabridged but one of them is derived from the Latin "acer" and one from the Greek "akeros." So, let's begin look at the Greek-derived acerous, which means "having no horns, antennae, tentacles." Let's first wander a bit through the Greek dictionary before returning to the Latin roots relating to horns (cornu).

Entering the Greek World of Hornlessness

Because I like to study words along with their neighbors, I decided to do a little reading in the big Liddell-Scott (Classical Greek dictionary) regarding words beginning with aker. There are only about 10 of them, so it won't take me long to bring you into this world. The beginning "a" is known as an "alpha privative," which means that it reverses the meaning of the following word--somewhat like the "in" or "un" in English (flexible/inflexible; cooperative/uncooperative) or the "s" in Italian (fortunatamente/sfortunatemente). A verb akeraioomai means "to be akeraios," and, akeraios means "unalloyed, pure, unmixed." Actually, the word akeraios appears three times in the New Testament, once on the lips of Jesus: "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent (akeraioi) as doves" (Mt. 10:16). The word akeraios can also be written akerastos and it still means "unimxed" or "pure."

Then, on the other "side" of akeratos (our word--hornlessness) in the dictionary is akeraunos, meaning "not struck by lightning." And once you are in the realm of lightning for the ancient Greeks, you are entering Zeus' area. The keraunos is the thunderbolt, and Zeus can be given the name of the keraunobrontes, the "thunderer." I don't think I want to go further into that now, so let's beat a hasty retreat. Then, in the Greek dictionary, you also have akerdeia, meaning "want of gain, loss," akerkistos, derived ultimately from kerkizo (to weave), which means "unwoven," akermatia, meaning "want of money," akersekomes, meaning "without unshorn hair" (i.e., ever-young--Greek youths wore long hair until they reached manhood), akerxnos, meaning "without hoarseness," and akerotos, which means the same thing as akeratos (hornlessness).

But another digressive comment is in order. There are far more Greek words beginning with ker than with aker. That means that only some of the "ker" words were negated in Greek literature. But what is to stop us from inventing other "negative" words in any language? Should the limits of dictionary attestations be the extent of our creative thinking? Of course not. Therefore, you can understand why I see the dictionary now as primarily only a starting point for searching out a language.

On a practical note, I discovered that there is a species of birds, called the aceros nipalensis, currently with a population estimate of only 2,500-9,999. This bird, popularly known as the "rufous-necked hornbill," lives primarily in Bhutan and Northeast India. It is listed as a "vulnerable" species at present. You can see a picture of it here. I am not really sure why it is called aceros since the Greek word is acerous and the word would emphasize the absence of a horn or horn bill, while this one would make Jimmy Durante's nose look small. It was named by Hodgson in 1829, when all botanists knew Greek. Any help you can give me?

Horns and Latin

If we wanted to continue further on Greek matters, I would look at words derived from ker, of which ther eare many in English. The most prevalent, probably, has to do with keratin, which means "any of various sulfur-containing fibrous proteins that form the chemical basis of horny epidermal tissues (as hair and nails)." But I want to move from Greek to Latin now, and pick up on the Latin word for horn--cornu. Again, we have many English words, which even appear in the Collegiate, derived from the Latin cornu. For example, we have a cornichon (small gherkin) so named because of its "hornlike" shape. We also have corniculate cartilage, which is a small nodule of yellow elastic cartilage articulating with the apex of the arytenoid (near the vocal chords). Or, finally, there is cornification, which is "conversion into horny or a horny or keratinous substance or tissue." And, of course, the cornucopia, the "horn of plenty," was a curved goat's horn overflowing with furit and ears of grain symbolizing abundance.

Cornu, in the OLD, has eight significations, ranging from an animal's horn to a symbol of pride (someone's "horn") to horn as a substance, to a hollowed-out drinking vessel, to a bow, trumpet, tusk or tip of something. Thus, we can understand how words derived from the Latin cornu could stress either the shape of the object (pointed) or the hardness of it.

The most prevalent word in English using the word corn and derived from the Latin cornu is cornea. I learned a lot about the cornea in preparing for this essay, and I re-leanred some of the terminology for the eye which I had only learned as a child. What is fascinating to me is the way that specialization in medicine has reached such a degree that there is now a journal named Cornea and that specialists in the eye can focus, so to speak, only on the anterior region of the eye (pupil, cornea, iris, etc). I learned that scholars now divide the cornea into five sections. This transparent part at the front of the eye, protecting the iris, pupil, etc. includes the following, from the outside to the inside:

1. Corneal epithelium--a thin layer of fast-growing and easily regenerated cells which are kept moist with tears.

2. Bowman's layer--consisting of a tough layer protecting the third layer and consisting in irregularly-arranged collagen fibers. It would be interesting to learn the human story of how Bowman got his name on this layer, but I bet that he was a 19th century scientist. If this is true, it stresses once again how our knowledge of the body or of the universe is something that evolves. I wonder how one would have "divided" the cornea 100 years ago... Oh, I discovered in the Century that about 100 years ago, when this dictionary was edited, there was such a thing as "Bowman's corneal tubes..."

3. The Corneal stroma (substantia propria) is the thick, transparent middle layer responsible for most of the focusing that the cornea performs. This consists of about 85% of the cornea, as I have read.

4. Descemet's membrane. Again, there must be a story here.

5. Corneal endothelium--an inner lining acting as a barrier to prevent water inside the eyeball from moving into and hydrating the cornea.

Conclusion--A "Horny" Cornea?

So, why is the cornea, which appears to be smooth and clear, and not pointed, called the cornea? The first naming of the cornea happened in 1398 (at least as attested in the OED). "Of the four webbes in the formest paryes of the eye the fyrste hyghte tella arena..the thirde Cornea, horny." Thus, the name of the cornea arose because of its "horny consistence" or hardness. It was also formerly known as the tunica cornea pellucida or "pellucid (letting light through) horny covering." And, come to think of it, now we all know the origin of the word "horny," relating to sexual excitement. It sure is a lot more descriptive a word than "corny" would be, don't you agree?

1906