THE MUSCULAR TISSUE. 141 



equally find, has the reward of health and life, and diso- 

 bedience the penalty of disease and death. The penalties 

 refer to the pathological state of this membrane, the prin- 

 cipal of which consist in 



Malformations , congenital or acquired, as seen in oblite- 

 ration of the rectum. 



Displacements , as in prolapsus of the vagina. 



Stricture, as in the urethra. 



Tumor, as polypi of the nose and uterus. 



Vegetations. 



New Formations, as cartilage, bone, hair, &c. 



Discharges, as serum, mucus, blood. 



Inflammation, with all its terminations in suppuration, 

 nlceration, and gangrene. 



The appendages of the mucous membrane are the Teeth ; 

 which see in another part of the work. 



CHAPTER VII. 

 THE MUSCULAR TISSUE. 



ANALYSIS. 



DEFINITION, IMPORTANCE, DIVISION, FORM, COLOR, SIZE, CONSISTENCE, COURSE, 



NUMBER, ATTACHMENTS, NOMENCLATURE, STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONS, 



DEVELOPMENT. 



Muscle (from /wvwv, a muscle, or ^tuj, a mouse,) is the ac- 

 tive organ of motion in the different parts of the body. In 

 familiar language, it is called the flesh, and, by its pro- 

 perty of contraction, is connected with many of the most 

 important functions. The importance of this tissue may 

 be estimated, when we consider that the functions of diges- 

 tion, respiration, circulation, locomotion, speech, and ex- 

 pression, are all dependent upon it. Muscles, as we shall 

 presently see, consist of bundles, mostly of reddish fibres, 

 of variable size and strength, and have a head, body, and 

 tail, or, in more anatomical language, an origin, course, 



