LIGAlVfENTOUS TISSUE. 257 



reflection; their margins adhering in such cases to the conti- 

 guous ligamentous structure. 



There is a very small quantity of cellular tissue in this sys- 

 tem. Artificial injection manifests but few blood vessels in it; 

 if the animal, however, be strangled for the purpose, the blood 

 by accumulating in the capillaries becomes sufficiently appa- 

 rent. 



CHAPTER III. 



OF THE LIGAMENTOUS OR DESMOID TISSUE. 



SECT. I. 



THE Desmoid Tissue, (Textus Desmosus, Sys&me Fibretix,) 

 is very generally diffused in the human body, has a very close 

 connexion with the cellular texture, and is continuous with it 

 in divers places. It may be known by its whiteness, the firm- 

 ness and unyielding nature of its materials, and its fibrous ar- 

 rangement. It is most commonly employed in fastening the 

 bones to each other at their articulations, and in enveloping 

 the muscles, but it is also applied in many other ways. Its ap- 

 plication in the former is our present object, but before that is 

 particularly noted, it will be useful to enter into some general 

 considerations in regard to its intimate structure, and the ob- 

 servations now made can be applied on all other occasions 

 when this tissue is in question. 



A desire to generalize, and consequently to simplify, has in- 

 duced anatomists to seek for some fountain or source from 

 which all the reflections and applications of the desmoid tissue 

 might be traced. The Arabians thought that the dura mater 

 was this source; and the error was sanctioned for a long time 

 by the authority of Sylvius. The celebrated Bichat, in ob. 

 serving the connexions of this tissue, finding that all its points 

 of application might be traced either mediately or directly to 

 the periosteum, considered the latter as its centre, as the heart 



22* 



