Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
incremental lines of Ret·zi·us Pronunciation:
-'ret-sE-&s Function:
noun plural : incremental lines in the enamel of a tooth
Retzius, Magnus Gustaf (1842–1919), Swedish anatomist and anthropologist. Retzius made major contributions in several areas of medical science. He produced importantstudies on the histology of the nervous system, and in 1896 he published a two-volume monograph on the gross anatomy of the human brain. The latter was probably the most important work on the brain'sgross anatomy published during the 19th century. In 1873 he described the microscopic concentric lines seen in sections of tooth enamel.