Joseph Merrick was originally thought to be suffering from elephantiasis. In 1971, Ashley Montagu suggested in his book The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity that Merrick suffered from neurofibromatosis type I, a genetic disorder also known as von Recklinghausen's disease.
Layers of the Epidermis. The epidermis is divided into five layers. From outside to inside (dermis). Of note, Langerhans cells, which are specialized antigen-presenting cells are present in all layers of the epidermis but are mostly in the stratum spinosum.
The epidermis is a stratified, squamous epithelium that consists primarily of keratinocytes in progressive stages of differentiation from deeper to more superficial layers. The named layers of the epidermis include the stratum germinativum, stratum spinosum, stratum granulosum, and stratum corneum.