556 



THE MICROSCOPE. 



The white fibrous tissue is (when perfectly cleared of 

 the areolar) of a silvery lustre, and composed of bundles 

 of fibres running, for the most part, in a parallel direc- 

 o tion ; but if there is more than one 



plane of fibres, they cross or inter- 

 lace with each other: in some 

 specimens it is very difficult to 

 make out the fibres distinctly, 

 except with oblique light ; from 

 this circumstance it would appear 

 that this tissue is composed of 

 Fig. m~-Tte "contents of a longitudinally striated membrane, 



single fat-cell, separated, and which is often found Split Up into 

 d 250 diameters. ' 



principally employed in the formation of ligaments and 

 tendons a purpose for which it is admirably fitted on 

 account of its inelasticity : it also enters into the formation 



Fig. 294. 



1, White fibrous or non-elastic tissue. 2, Yellow fibrous, or elastic tissue, taken 

 near a ligament. 



of fibrous membranes, viz. the pericardium, dura-mater, 

 periosteum, perichondrium, sclerotic coat of the eye, and 

 all the fasciae. It is sparingly supplied with capillaries 

 and nerves : the former always run in the areolar tissue, 



