  Myelin figures are long thin cylindrical structures that typically grow as a
dense tangle when water is added to the concentrated lamellar phase of certain
surfactants. We show that, starting from a well-ordered initial state, single
myelin figures can be produced in isolation thus allowing a detailed study of
their growth and stability. These structures grow with their base at the
exposed edges of bilayer stacks from which material is transported into the
myelin. Myelins only form and grow in the presence of a driving stress; when
the stress is removed, the myelins retract.
