GENERAL VIEW OF THE BODY 5 



the construction of the body. For this purpose the body 

 of some small animal should be dissected and studied. 

 (See observation at close of chapter.) The different 

 materials found by such a dissection correspond closely to 

 the substances, called tissues, which make up the human 

 body. The main tissues of the body, as ordinarily named, 

 are the muscular tissue, the osseous tissue, the connective 

 tissue, the nervous tissue, the adipose tissue, the cartilagi- 

 nous tissue, and the epithelial and glandular tissue. Most 

 of these present different varieties, making all together 

 some fifteen different kinds o.f tissues that enter into the 

 construction of the body. 1 



General Purposes of the Tissues. The tissues, first of 

 all, form the body. As a house is constructed of wood, 

 stone, plaster, iron, and other building materials, so is the 

 body made up of its various tissues. For this reason the 

 tissues have been called the building materials of the body. 



In addition to forming the body, the tissues supply the 

 means through which its work is carried on. They are 

 thus the zvorking materials of the body. In serving this 

 purpose the tissues play an active r61e. All of them 

 must perform the activities of growth and repair, and 

 certain ones (the so-called active tissues) must do work 

 which benefits the body as a whole. 



Purposes of the Different Tissues. In the construction 

 of the body and also in the work which it carries on, the 

 different tissues are made to serve different purposes. 

 The osseous tissue is the chief substance in the bony 

 framework, or skeleton, while the muscular tissue produces 

 the different movements of the body. The connective 



1 When classified according to their essential structure, the tissues fall into four 

 main groups : epithelial and glandular tissue, muscular tissue, nervous tissue, 

 and connective tissue. According to this system the osseous, cartilaginous, and 

 adipose tissues are classed as varieties of connective tissue. See page 18. 



