CHAPTER II 



THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM 



muscles constitute the fleshy parts of the body, 

 and are the main organs of motion. They are formed of 

 bundles of reddish fibers, endowed with the property of 

 contractility. These bundles of fibers are enclosed in a 

 delicate web called the perimysium, in contradistinction 

 to the sheath of areolar tissue which invests the en- 



FlG. 29. Transverse section of a muscle, magnified : a, Epimysium ; b, fas- 

 ciculus ; c, perimysium ; d, fiber. 



tire muscle, the epimysium. The bundles are termed 

 "fasciculi"; they are prismatic in shape (see Fig. 29), of 

 different sizes in different muscles, and, for the most part, 

 placed parallel to one another, though they have a tend- 

 ency to converge toward their tendinous attachment. 

 The fasciculi, or bundles of fibers, are in themselves 



