TENDONS COMPARED WITH CORDAGE 69 



strong cord, apparently fibrous ; but which, by 

 the art of the anatomist, may be separated into 

 lesser cords, and these, by maceration, can be 

 shown to consist of cellular membrane, the com- 

 mon tissue that gives firmness to all the textures 

 of the animal body. The peculiarity here results 

 merely from its remarkable condensation. But 

 the cords of which the larger tendon consists do 

 not lie parallel to one another, nor are they sim- 

 ply twisted like the strands of a rope ; they are, 

 on the contrary, plaited or interwoven together. 



If the strong tendon of the heel, or Achilles 

 tendon, be taken as an example, on first inspec- 

 tion, it appears to consist of parallel fibres, but by 

 maceration, these fibres are found to be a web of 

 twisted cellular texture. If you take your hand- 

 kerchief, and, slightly twisting it, draw it out like 

 a rope, it will seem to consist of parallel cords ; 

 such is, in fact, so far the structure of a tendon. 

 But, as we have stated, there is something more 

 admirable than this, for the tendon consists of 

 subdivisions, which are like the strands of a rope ; 

 but instead of being twisted simply as by the 

 process of hardening, they are plaited or inter- 

 woven in a way that could not be imitated in 

 cordage by the turning of a wheel. Here, then, 

 is the difference, by the twisting of a rope, the 

 strands cannot resist the strain equally, whilst we 

 see that this is provided for in the tendon by the 



