CH- IV.] 



RETIFORM TISSUE 



35 



mentioned the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, and the 

 orbits. 



Retiform Tissue. 



Ketiforni or reticular tissue is a kind of connective tissue in which 

 the ground-substance is of more fluid consistency than elsewhere. 



FIG. 48. Retiform tissue from a lymphatic gland, from a section which has been treated with dilute 



potash. (Schafer.) 



There are few or no elastic fibres in it, and the white fibres run in 

 very fine bundles forming a close network. The bundles are covered 

 and concealed by flattened con- 

 nective-tissue corpuscles. When 

 these are dissolved by dilute potash, 

 the fibres are plainly seen (fig. 48). 



The statement has been made that the 

 fibres of retiform tissue are chemically 

 different from those of areolar tissue, in 

 spite of the fact that they are indistin- 

 guishable microscopically, and in many 

 places continuous with each other. Mrs 

 Rosenheim has conclusively proved that 

 chemical differences do not exist between 

 the two groups of fibres ; both are made 

 of collagen, and the substance termed 

 reticulin by Siegfried is an artifact ; it is 

 merely collagen which has been rendered 

 resistant and insoluble by the reagents 

 (alcohol, ether) used in its preparation. 



Adenoid or Lymphoid Tissue. 



This is retiform tissue in which 

 the meshes of the network are 

 largely occupied by lymph cor- 

 puscles. These are in certain foci 

 actively multiplying ; they get into the lymph stream, which washes 

 them into the blood, where they become the variety of colourless 



FIG. 49. Part of a section of a lymphatic gland, 

 from which the corpuscles have been for the 

 most part removed, showing the supporting 

 retiform tissue. (Klein and Noble Smith.) 



