47 



hundredth of an inch, whilst others sometimes occur as small as the 

 one-two-thousandth. When the striae were first observed, the liga- 

 ment was in one piece ; since then it has been divided transversely 

 in many places, and it has been found that fibres from the centre, 

 although more dense than those from the outer surface, and of much 

 larger size, do not always present transverse markings ; in these, 

 however, a linear stripe may occasionally be seen, which would ap- 

 pear to afford an indication of a tubular character. For the sake of 

 comparison, some of these last-mentioned fibres are represented in 

 Plate X. figs. 5 and 6, under the same magnifying power as those of 

 the striped variety ; in fig. 6, may be seen some examples of fibres 

 having the stripe in the centre. In order to show how much larger 

 these fibres are than those from the ligamentum nucha of the sheep, 

 two specimens from the latter animal are given, in figs. 7 and 8, both 

 being viewed under the same powers as those from the giraffe. 



As a striated form of elastic tissue has, I believe, never yet been 

 noticed by any anatomist, and as the discovery of a new variety of 

 animal tissue is not of every-day occurrence, I have ventured to 

 bring the subject before the notice of the Society on the present oc- 

 casion ; for it would appear, that this peculiar kind of elastic tissue 

 would form a link between the true striated muscular fibre, and the 

 ordinary elastic tissue, found either in the ligamentum nucha of 

 quadrupeds, or that in the coats of arteries, in areolar tissue, or in 

 any other of the textures of the animal body, where some substance 

 of an elastic nature may be required. 



