MORBID CONDITION OF CARTILAGE. 



215 







Cartilage may become destroyed from disease arising within 

 itself, independently of any morbid condition in the bones or 

 synovial membrane ; and to account for this, seeing that carti- 

 lage is a non-vascular structure, Goodsir, Kedfern, and others 

 made many important investigations. 



The anatomist will be aware that cartilage in a healthy state, 

 when microscopically., examined, is seen to consist of a homo- 

 geneous matrix, called the hyaline substance, with nucleated 



cells,called the cartilage corpus- _ 



cles, embedded in it's substance, 

 arranoed in a certain order. 

 Cartilage contains no blood- 

 vessels, but derives its nourish- 

 ment by imbibition from the 

 surroundincf fluids and textures. 

 In the large joints, blood-vessels 

 may occasionally be seen pene- 

 trating the cartilage, but these 

 do not seem to form nutrient 

 loops ; hence, to all intents and 

 purposes, articular cartilage 

 contains no blood-vessels, nor 

 have any nerves been discovered in it; consequently, it pos- 

 sesses no sensibility. 



It was first demonstrated by Goodsir that ulceration of 

 cartilage is accompanied by enlargement and alteration in the 

 form and arrangement of the cells. " Instead of being of their 

 usual form, they are larger, rounded, or oviform, and instead of 

 two or three nucleated cells in their interior, contain a mass 

 of them. At the very edge of the ulcerated cartilage, the 

 cellular contents communicate with a diseased membrane by 

 openings more or less extended. Some of the ovoidal masses 

 in the enlarged corpuscles may be seen half released from their 

 cavities by the removal of the cartilage." ^ Goodsir describes 

 a false membrane of a gelatinous nature, which covers the 

 cartilage during the progress of the disease, both in scrofulous 

 and simple inflammation. As far as my investigations go, I 

 have only found this membrane in two instances. 



The texture of the cartilage does not, during the progress 



^ GooDSiR's Anatomical and Pathological Observations. 



Fig. 36. — Healthy cartilage, from in- 

 ferior surface of navicular bone of horse. 



