654 



ELEMENTARY PHYSIOLOGY 



The dots seen with the magnifying glass are shown by 

 the microscope to be small nucleated cells. They are 

 termed connective tissue corpuscles, just as car- 

 tilage cells are called cartiku/e corpuscles. 



Thus, connective tissue resembles cartilage in so far as 

 it consists of cells separated by a large quantity of inter- 

 cellular substance ; but this intercellular substance is 

 soft, areolated fibrous, and, for the most part, either 



a, small bundles of white fibrous tissue ; '), larger bundles ; 

 c, single elastic fibres. 



collagenous or elastic, in contradistinction from that of 

 cartilage, which is hard, solid, laminated and chondri- 

 genous. 



A specimen of fresh connective tissue prepared for the 

 microscope in its own liuid exhibits a very different 

 appearance. The field of view is occupied by strings or 

 threads of extremely various thicknesses which cross one 

 another in all directions and are often wavy. Some of 

 tJhe threads can be recognised as elastic by their strongly 



