CHAPTER IV 

 THE SUPPORTING TISSUES 



Connective Tissue. This is the most widely distributed of the 

 supporting tissues. It envelopes and pervades all the soft parts of 

 the Body. The various constituents of individual organs are held 

 together by it, and the organs themselves, are supported in their 

 places by the same tissue. Beneath the skin and attaching it 

 rather loosely to the underlying structures is a layer of connective 

 tissue known as the fascia. So completely is the entire Body per- 

 vaded by connective tissue that if a solvent could be found which 

 would dissolve away all the tissues of the Body except this one 

 there would still remain in perfect outline not only the whole Body 

 but also each organ down to minutest detail. 



This connective tissue framework is commonly called areolar 

 tissue. It is composed, in the main, of tough, inelastic strands; 

 these are arranged, however, in most parts of the Body to form a 

 rather loose network, so that in removing the skin from an animal 

 or in separating one muscle from another in making a dissection 

 a blunt instrument readily tears the strands of areolar tissue apart. 



The meshes of areolar tissue are everywhere filled with a fluid, 

 lymph. Thus the various living tissues of the Body, all of which 

 are surrounded by areolar tissue, are nourished. 



There are in the body connective tissue structures in which the 

 individual strands, instead of forming a loose network, are in 

 parallel bundles, forming the toughest and strongest of cords and 

 bands. These are the tendons, by which muscles are attached to 

 bones, and the ligaments which hold the different bones of the 

 skeleton together. 



The functional part of connective tissue consists of two sorts of 

 fibers. In most places the white fibers constitute the bulk of the 

 tissue. These are flexible, inelastic strands composed of an albu- 

 minoid substance, collagen. The second sort of fibers are the 

 elastic fibers. These are intermingled with the white fibers to some 

 extent in nearly all regions where connective tissue occurs. In 



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