Cat skin and blood supply. Whiskers, unlike normal hair, are touch receptors, each containing a sensory organ called a proprioceptor. Scientists injected blood vessels with a red dye called carmine dye (here appearing black) in order to visualise the capillaries in the tissue, a newly developed technique at the time. The picture is a composite made up of 44 individual images which were stitched together. Here, fine hairs (yellow), thicker whisker (yellow) and blood vessels (black) are all visible. (Photo by David Linstead/Wellcome Images)
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