290 



ELEMENTARY PHYSIOLOGY 



all being composed of a number of individual muscular 

 fibres (Fig. 86). In this way the partitions become 

 thinner and more delicate, until those which separate the 

 chambers in which the individual muscular fibres are 

 contained are reduced to little more than as much 

 connective tissue as will hold the small nerves, arteries 

 and veins and capillary networks together. As the 

 perimysium consists of connective tissue, it may be 

 destroyed by prolonged boiling in water. In fact, in 

 " meat boiled to rags " vvc have musples which have been 



Fio. 8f\ — FAScict'Li OF Striated Muscle cut across. 



Several fasciculi /, bound together into larger fasciculi to make up the 

 muscle. 



thus treated : the perimysial case is broken up, and the 

 muscular fibres, but little attacked by Ijoiling water, are 

 readily separated from one another. 



If a piece of muscle of a rabbit which has been thus 

 boiled for many hours, is placed in a watch-glass with a 

 little water, the muscular fibres may be easily teased out 

 with needles and isolated. Such a fibre will Vje found to 

 have a thickness of somewhere about 60/i (4 ^o inch) (they 

 vary, however, a great deal), with a length of 30 or 40 

 millimetres, i.e., about Ih inch. It is a cylindroidal or 

 polygonal solid rod, which either tapers or is bevelled oil" 



