ON DENTAL EXOSTOSIS. 43 



collapse again after its removal into a firm bony- 

 ridge. 



Let us now investigate more closely a mass of 

 this so-called coagulated lymph. It is soft, almost 

 diffluent on the surface ; in the middle it is some- 

 what denser, and at its union with the fang, which 

 is extremely firm, it is of a gristly cartilaginous 

 texture. The smaller and whiter shreds on the 

 periosteum also partake of the latter character, 

 being tough and less vascular. 



Examined by the microscope, the external soft 

 surface is seen to be principally composed of large 

 corpuscles, granular and nucleated, and which in 

 water swell up and burst after a time. The more 

 diffluent parts are entirely composed of these 

 spherical bodies, which agree in character with 

 those corpuscles usually met with in parts recently 

 inflamed, and termed by some exudation corpuscles. 

 In addition to these, small masses of a granular 

 blastema are also visible {vide Fig. 1, Plate IV). 



The principal constituent of the next undermost 

 portion is seen to be fibrous tissue in a state of 

 formation. For here may be seen (and in some 

 instances it is most admirably shown) oval cor- 

 puscles with fibrous prolongations, some with a short 

 fibre at one end, others lengthened out at both ends, 

 and putting on the characteristic undulation. The 

 corpuscles are light, and generally bi-nucleated, 

 whilst the fibrous extensions are slightly more 

 opaque {vide Fig. 2, Plate IV). 



