22 ANATOMY OF THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM. 



not very limited number of isolated coarsely-granular spindle-sir 

 looking elements, of a considerable length. They show sometii 

 their thick portion an oblong compressed nucleus ; their extremities 

 are very delicate, and are seen sometimes to be branched. If the 

 preparation is protected from evaporation, and if one observes the 

 hyaline matrix previously mentioned, put under a high power, one is 

 able to make out after some time has elapsed that granular fields 

 come into view in which a more or less distinct large oval clear 

 nucleus-like body may be just perceived. Still later, these granular 

 fields become more or less distinctly outlined ; it is possible to make out 

 that they represent plates of different sizes. Gradually, also, the pre- 

 viously-mentioned nucleus-like body becomes sharply outlined, and is 

 seen sometimes to contain a distinct nucleolus. If the observation is 

 still continued, a various number of different processes come into view, 

 which spring from those plates, and which become in their course so 

 delicate that they can hardly be followed. The outlines become 

 gradually more defined, and it is possible to make out that the greater 

 part of the plate is made of a more or less distinctly fibrillar substance, 

 and between the fibrils lie single granules, which are continuous with 

 -the masses of granules which surround the nucleus. We can farther 

 see distinctly that the processes, too, are very finely fibrillated, and 

 that they are sometimes branched and join those of neighbouring 

 cells after a longer or shorter course. A connection between those 

 processes and the above-mentioned isolated, wavy, shining connective 

 tissue bundles is not to be found. Such a connection is already a 

 priori improbable, from the perfectly different aspect and course of 

 those connective tissue bundles, provided that the preparation has 

 been made with the necessary care, and that all rough handling has 

 been avoided. In a portion which contains only a very few connec- 

 tive tissue bundles the contrast between the processes of the above- 

 mentioned cell plates and the connective tissue bundles is very striking 

 as regards thickness, course, and aspect ; by careful examination it is 

 hardly possible to imagine how the very delicate processes of the cell- 

 plates could possibly be transformed into such a connective tissue- 

 bundle. We need not mention that in those preparations in which 

 the number of connective tissue-bundles is very large it is very diffi- 

 cult to come to a decided conclusion. 



