PART II. 



SYNDESMOLOGY. 



CHAPTER III. 



GENERAL ANATOMY OF THE LIGAMENTOUS, FIBROUS, OR 

 DESMOID TISSUE. 



Of the ligaments aud membranes which connect the different parts of the body 

 to each other Of the articular cartilage Fibro-cartilages Synovial cap- 

 sules, and particular articulations. 



THE tendons and the strong membranes connected with them 

 called aponeuroses, the fascia which bind down some of the 

 muscles and afford an origin to many of their fibres, and the 

 membranes which confine the tendons, appear to be composed 

 of the same substance. 



Notwithstanding some slight shades of difference which 

 exist in the physical and chemical composition of these different 

 parts, they are all now included with the periosteum, perichon- 

 drium, dura mater, sclerotic coat of the eye, &c., under the 

 general head of ligamentous, fibrous, or desmoid tissue.* 

 This tissue is sometimes called, from the whiteness of its 

 appearance, the albugineous tissue. It is spread very gene- 

 rally throughout the body, and is found wherever extraordinary 

 strength and resistance is required, without elasticity or muscu- 

 lar contraction. It has been called ligamentous or desmoid, 

 from its fastening together the bones and cartilages, as in the 

 ligaments proper, and from binding down the muscles so as to 

 preserve the symmetry of the limbs, in the form of fascia and 



* The term ligament is frequently, though not with exact propriety applied to 

 the duplicatures of serous membranes, which are attached to and assist in sup- 

 porting different viscera, as the liver, bladder, uterus, &c., since these do not 

 belong to the fibrous or desmoid tissue. p. 



