82 



EIGHTH LECTURE. 



Fig. 76. — Muscu- 

 lar fibnlla torn 

 across ; b, b, sarcous 

 portion ; a, sarco- 

 lemma. 



Fig. 77. — A muscular fasciculus of 

 the frog by 800-fold enlargement ; a, 

 dark zones, with sarcous elements ; /', 

 bright zones; c, nuclei; d. interstitial 

 granules (alcohol preparation). 



absorption of water. When the sarcous por- 

 tion has been torn by traction, the sarcolemma, 

 or primitive sheath (Fig. j6, a), appears most 

 distinctly. It is a hyaline, aggregated, elastic 

 membrane. 



Directly superimposed on this envelope, one 

 meets with numerous oval nuclei (Fig. JJ, c), 

 measuring 0.0074 to o. 01 13 mm. The lateral 

 surfaces, and the pole of the latter, are sur- 

 rounded by a small quantity of a protoplas- 

 matic substance (d). This, a cell rudiment, 

 has been called a muscle corpuscle (M. 

 Schultze). This is the condition of the human 

 muscle. In the lower animals, however, the 

 nucleus also lies in the interior, and the same 

 is the case in our heart muscle. 

 All this is readily understood. 

 Extraordinary difficulties are, on 

 the contrary, presented by the sub- 

 stance surrounded by the sarcolem- 

 ma, the sarcous elements. It is, in 

 the first place, very changeable, 

 and, with its infinitely delicate 

 structure, we soon arrive at the 

 limits of the microscopic solution 

 possible at present. 



In many cases, and regularly 

 after the use of certain reagents, 

 the sarcous elements appear as a 

 bundle of fine, transversely striated, 

 elongated fibrillae, measuring o.ooi I 

 to 0.0022 mm. It would appear, 

 therefore (after the manner of the 

 connective tissue), to be a primi- 

 tive bundle. 



With other methods of treatment, 

 and also in the living muscle, we 



