ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY FOR NURSES 



the play of the several organs upon them. These mem- 

 branes are of a light-red color and well supplied with 

 blood-vessels. In some places they are liable to serious 

 inflammation, often forming adhesions to other organs. 



Synovial membranes resemble the serous membranes 

 in structure, but differ from them in the nature of their 

 secretion, which in the former is thick, viscid, and glairy, 

 like the white of an egg, hence called synovia. 



Synovial membrane is a thin, delicate membrane, 

 arranged in the form of a short, wide tube, attached by its 

 open ends to the margins of the articular extremities of 

 the bones, and covering the inner surface of the various 

 ligaments that connect the articulating surfaces. 



The synovial membranes found in the body admit of 

 subdivision into three kinds articular, bursal, and vagi- 

 nal. The articular synovial membranes are found in all 

 movable joints; the burses are found interposed between 

 surfaces that move upon each other, producing friction, 

 as the gliding of a tendon or of the integument over pro- 

 jecting surfaces; the vaginal serve to facilitate the gliding 

 of tendons in the osseofibrous canals, through which they 

 pass, as in the hand and foot. 



The membranes of the brain have been described in the 

 chapter on the Nervous System. 



REVIEW QUESTIONS 



What kind of membranes have we in the body? 



What cavities are lined by mucous membranes? 



Name the serous membranes. 



What are synovial membranes? Note the varieties. 



What membrane lines the heart? 



What membrane surrounds the lungs? 



What is the function of the serous membranes? 



