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 composed of the outermost layers of cells in the skin Epidermis is the outer layer of cells covering an organism, in  particular. Your epidermis is the outer layer of your skin. Anything that is not your skin.    Epidermis-- The uppermost layer of skin cells. The epidermis is the outer covering of a living thing or organism.