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.
There are four major layers of keratinocytes (the structural cells) in the epidermis and one layer that is present only in certain parts of the body. The bottom layer, the stratum basale, has cells that are shaped like columns. In this layer the cells divide and push already formed cells into higher layers. As cells move into the higher layers, they flatten and eventually die.