MUSCULAR TISSUE. 



83 



see little or nothing of these fibrillae. The filament permits 

 the recognition of transverse lines only. It now appears, 

 comparable to a Volta's pile, to consist of discs piled upon 

 each other. 



The fibrillar, as well as the transverse discs, were both re- 

 garded as normal, pre-existing structures, and in this, accord- 

 ing to our view, a double error was committed. In the living 

 muscle there are neither fibrillae or discs. 



The first who here trod the correct path, a generation since, 

 was the Englishman, Bowman. It is true that, with the opti- 

 cal aids of that period, he was unable to exhaust the subject ; 

 but we are also unable to do so at the present time, although 

 we have at our disposal much more perfect microscopes. 



According to the view of this distinguished investigator, 

 the muscular filament consists essentially of an aggregation 

 of small bodies, the sarcous 

 prisms or sarcous elements 

 which, united and holding to- 

 gether in the transverse direc- 

 tion, afford the appearance of 

 a disc or a thin plate {disc 

 according to Bowman) (Fig. 

 yy, a) while, disposed in the 

 longitudinal direction, they pre- 

 sent that of the fibrillae (Fig. 78, 

 I, a, b). Accordingly, neither 

 fibrillae or discs pre-exist. There 

 is merely a disposition present 

 in the muscular filament to become divided, sometimes in the 

 transverse, sometimes in the longitudinal direction. The 

 cohesion in the latter direction is certainly the strongest ; for 

 the fibrillae in the dead element are met with more fre- 

 quently than transverse plates. 



Let us next examine the muscular filament somewhat more 

 closely, with the aid of the highest magnifying powers. 



The transverse lines are readily resolved into dark trans- 

 verse zones, separated by more transparent ones (2, a, b). 



Fir.. 78. — Two muscular fibrillae, from 

 the proteus. i, and the hog, 2, magnified 

 1 odo times ; a, sarcous prisms ; i, bright 

 longitudinal connecting medium. At a* 

 the sarcous elements are further apart, and 

 the transverse connecting medium is visi- 

 ble ; c, nucleus. 



