38 



THE ESSENTIALS OF HISTOLOGY 



tissue are conveyed. The interstices between the smallest bundles 

 are occupied by rows of connective-tissue corpuscles (tendon- cells), 

 which from being squeezed up between three or more bundles become 

 flattened out in two or three directions. In transverse section the cells 

 appear somewhat stellate (figs. 40, 42), but when seen on the flat 

 they appear lamellar (fig. 41), and from this aspect their general shape 

 is square or oblong. They lie, as before said, in rows between the 

 tendon-bundles, and the nuclei of adjacent cells are placed opposite 



FIG. 43. EIGHT CELLS FROM THE SAME TENDON AS REPRESENTED IK FIG. 41. 



(425 diameters.) 



The nuclei, with their numerous nucleoli, are coloured by the logwood. The dark lines on 

 the surface of the cells are the optical sections of lamellar extensions directed towards or 

 away from the observer. 



one another in pairs (fig. 43). The cell-spaces correspond in general 

 figure and arrangement to the cells which occupy them (fig. 44). 



FIG. 44. CELL-SPACES OF TENDON OF MOUSE'S TAIL. BROUGHT INTO VIEW BY 



TREATMENT WITH NITRATE OF SILVER. (175 diameters.) 



Fibrous tissue forms the tendons and ligaments, and also certain 

 membranes, such as the dura mater, the fibrous pericardium, the fasciae 

 of the limbs, the fibrous covering of certain organs, &c. It is found 

 wherever great strength combined with flexibility is concerned. It 

 receives a few blood-vessels, disposed longitudinally for the most part, 

 and contains many lymphatics. Tendons and ligaments also receive 

 nerve-fibres, which, in some cases, end in small localised ramifications 

 like the end-plates of muscle, while others terminate in end-bulbs or in 

 simple Pacinian corpuscles. 



Retiform or reticular tissue is a variety of connective tissue in 

 which the intercellular or ground substance has mostly disappeared or 

 is replaced by fluid, very few or no fibres having been developed in it ; 

 and these, when present, are enwrapped by the cells. The tissue is 

 composed almost entirely of the cells, which are ramified and united 



