546 TISSUES OF THE CONNECTIVE SUBSTANCE. 



In regard to the mineral bodies it must be remarked that according 

 to the determinations of H. SCHULZ the connective tissue is rich in silicic 

 acid. The greatest amount was found by him, in the crystalline lens 

 of the ox, namely, 0.5814 gram per kilo of dried substance. In man he 

 found 0.0637 gram in the tendons, 0.1064 gram in the fascia, and 0.244 

 gram in Wharton's jelly for every kilo of dried substance. The quantity 

 of silicic acid is higher in the young than in the old; in man it is highest 

 in the embryonic connective tissue of the umbilical cord. In the last- 

 named substance SCHULZ also found 0.403 gram Fe2Os, 0.693 gram 

 MgO, 3.297 grams CaO, and 3.794 grams P 2 O 5 for every kilo of dried 

 substance. The report of SCHULZ on the quantity of silicic acid does 

 not correspond with the investigations of FRAUENBERGER l who found, 

 in Wharton's jelly, only a fraction of the quantity of silicic acid that 

 SCHULZ gives. 



II. CARTILAGE. 



Cartilaginous tissues consist of cells and an original hyaline matrix, 

 which, however, may become changed in such wise that there appears 

 in it a network of elastic fibers or connective-tissue fibrils. 



Those cells that offer great resistance to the action of alkalies and 

 acids have not been carefully studied. According to earlier opinions 

 the matrix was considered as consisting of a body analogous to colla- 

 gen, so-called chondrigen. The investigations of MOROCHOWETZ and 

 others, but especially those of C. MoRNER, 2 have shown that the 

 matrix of the cartilage consists of a mixture of collagen with other 

 bodies. 



The tracheal, thyroideal, cricoidal, and arytenoidal cartilages of 

 full-grown cattle contain, according to MORNER, four constituents in 

 the matrix, namely, chondromucoid, chondroitin-sulphuric acid, collagen, 

 and the albumoid. 



Chondromucoid. This body, according to C. MORNER, has the com- 

 position C 47.30, H 6.42, N 12.58, S 2.42, O 31.28 per cent. Sulphur is 

 in part loosely combined and may be split off by the action of alkalies, 

 and a part separates as sulphuric acid when boiled with hydrochloric 

 acid. Chondromucoid is decomposed by dilute alkalies and yields alkali 

 albuminate, peptone substances, chondroitin-sulphuric acid, alkali sul- 

 phides, and some alkali sulphates. On boiling with acids it yields acid 

 albuminate, peptone substances, chondroitin-sulphuric acid, and on 



1 Schulz, Pfliiger's Arch, 84 and 89, 131 and 144; Frauenberger, Zeitschr. f. physiol. 

 Chem., 57. 



2 Morochowetz, Verhandl., d. naturh. med. Vereins zu Heidelberg, 1, Heft 5; Morner, 

 Skand. Arch. f. Physiol., 1. 



