THE CONNECTIVE SUBSTANCE GKOUP. 75 



there is a form of spindle-cell in the interamscular tissue of the 

 frog's thigh. This, however, is apparent rather than real. We 

 find broad plates, in which are oval, flattened bodies, placed at 

 certain distances apart (Fig. 31). These, seen in profile, appear 

 spindle-shaped. There is something peculiar about such 

 bodies, for they seem to bear a close relationship to the elastic 

 networks, a, so that, in some cases, it appears as if the flat- 

 tened central bodies were directly connected with the elastic 

 fibres, as stated by Boll. 



In many instances these elastic fibres lie upon the plates, &, 

 which themselves rest in a homogeneous, intermediate, and 

 apparently structureless substance. 



This tissue is therefore similar, in some respects, to mucous 

 tissue. 



Corneal tissue. The cornea consists of thin, fibrous bands, 

 each one partly anastomosing with its adjacent neighbor. 

 Between them are well-marked corpuscles lying in clefts the 

 corneal spaces. 



The term cornea! corpuscles, however, is even now applied 

 to the spaces by some of the best-known writers, and it seems 

 evident that there is doubt as to whether real corpuscles exist 

 or not. Recently the subject has been restudted by Waldeyer, 

 and the author has been able to verify his conclusions in a 

 great measure, both as to the character of the corpuscles and 

 the spaces in which they lie. 



In general, these bodies appear, as stated by Waldeyer, to 

 be fiat, having a considerable amount of protoplasmic material 

 about their nuclei (Fig. 30), though in the direction 6f the per- 

 iphery they gradually caper off into thin expansions, which are 

 nearly homogeneous, and extending from them are distinct 

 processes which in part unite with those of other corpuscles, 

 not materially differing in this respect from tendon-tissue and 

 the other varieties. In them is the same flattened, oval body, 

 which, when seen on the side, is rod-shaped, 5, and is sur- 

 rounded by an irregular envelope that assumes almost any 

 shape. Thus the corpuscles are not always flat, though they 

 are usually so. Their shape depends upon many different 

 causes, such as the method of preparing the tissue, the amount 

 of laceration to which it is subjected, etc. The best method 6t' 

 examining the cornea consists in preparing it by the gold me- 

 thod, already described. 



