CHAPTER I 



OSTEOLOGY 



shall first consider the framework (or osseous 

 system) that supports the body. This is known as ''the 

 skeleton" (from the Greek axeAerov, a dried body), and 

 gives attachment to the muscles and forms a protection 

 to the internal organs. 



Bone. Bone is the hardest structure in the body; 

 it possesses also a certain degree of toughness and elas- 



Lacuna. - 

 Canaliculi. " 



FIG. I. Portion of a transversely ground disk from the shaft of a human 

 femur; X 400 (Bohm and Davidoff). 



ticity. Its color, in a fresh state, is of a pinkish white. 

 On examination it will be found to be composed of two 

 kinds of tissues, one dense and compact, like ivory, the 

 other made up of slender fibers (lamella) arranged in the 

 form of lattice work, and called cancellated tissue. The 

 former is always external, and the latter internal. These 

 combinations vary in different parts of the body. In 



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