VOLUNTARY MUSCLE. 



757 



in many cases at least, alterations of the nervous system cannot be 

 detected. The writer has described a case ' in which this lesion was 

 marked in the gastrocnemii in connection with multiple false neuromata. 



DEGENERATION. 



Albuminous Degeneration of striated muscle occurs as a mark of toxae- 

 mia in acute infectious diseases, and may lead to fatty degeneration. 



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FIG. 497. PSEUDO-HYPERTROPHY OF GASTROCNEMIUS MUSCLE (FATTY INFILTRATION). 

 The specimen is from the case mentioned above, accompanying multiple neuroma. 



Fatty Degeneration, with greater or less destruction of the muscles, 

 may commence with a simple swelling and fine granulation of the fibres. 

 As the process goes on, smaller and larger fat droplets appear in the con- 

 tractile substance, which loses its striations and becomes friable, and may 

 be entirely destroyed, leaving within the sarcolemma a mass of fatty 

 detritus which may finally be absorbed and disappear. This alteration 

 may occur in acute parenchymatous myositis in connection with various 

 forms of atrophy, in prolonged exhausting diseases, and in phosphorus 

 poisoning. 



Hyaline Degeneration. Under a variety of conditions the muscle fibres 

 undergo a series of changes, leading to their conversion into a trans- 

 lucent, highly refractile material, somewhat resembling amyloid but not 

 giving its micro -chemical reactions, and apparently more nearly allied to 

 hyaline material. The lesion in the muscle which we are considering is 

 often called waxy degeneration, from the peculiar appearance which the 

 muscles present. When the lesion is far advanced and extensive the 

 muscles are brittle and have a grayish-yellow, translucent appearance. 

 Microscopical examination of various stages of hyaline degeneration of 

 muscle shows that the contractile substance of the fibres becomes at first 

 swollen and granular, and gradually converted into hyaline material which 

 may present the outlines of the swollen fibres, but is more frequently 

 1 Pnidden, American Journal of Medical Sciences, July, 1880, p. 134. 



