MORBID CONDITION OF CAETILAGE. 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, Redfern, 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, mixed with fibrous 

 tissue in fibro-cartilage, and nucleated cells, called the cartilage 

 corpuscles, embedded in its sub- 

 stance, arranged in a certain 

 order. Cartilage contains no 

 blood-vessels, but derives its 

 nourishment by imbibition from 

 the surrounding fluids and tex- 

 tures. In the large joints, 



blood-vessels may occasionally |^^ (ss,<^^^? ^3pf^ 

 be seen penetrating the cartilage, 'N^(^:^f ^""^A ©^^^ 





but these do not seem to form 

 nutrient loops ; hence, to all 

 intents and purposes, articular ' ^ Ws 



cartilage contains no blood- Fio. 36.— Healthy cartilage. 



vessels, nor have any nerves been discovered in it ; consequently, 

 it possesses 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 illcerated 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 



^ Goodsik's Anatomical and Pathological Observations. 



