

CONNECTIVE TISSUE. 145 



Fibrous basis-substance , a semi-solid, opaque substance, char- 

 acterized by a striated, fibrous, or lamellated appearance, yielding, 

 on being boiled, glue or a substance kindred to glue ; 



Cartilaginous or cliondrogenous basis-substance, a dense, opaque 

 substance of a uniform hyaline or striated appearance, which 

 on being boiled also yields a liquid kindred to glue, as indicated 

 by its odor ; and 



Osseous or bony basis -substance, a dense, opaque, glue-yielding 

 substance, of a striated or lamellated appearance, infiltrated 

 with lime-salts. 



The character of any variety of connective tissue is exclu- 

 sively defined by the character of its basis-substance, whereas the 

 connective-tissue corpuscles, though greatly varying in size and 

 shape, are all essentially the same, viz. : living matter hitherto 

 called " protoplasm." These protoplasmic bodies, plastids, as a 

 rule nucleated, lie in cavities of the basis-substance, representing 

 what has been termed the " fixed cells " of connective tissue. Be- 

 sides, in some varieties of connective tissue, plastids are met 

 with which, under favorable conditions, exhibit rapid changes of 

 shape and locomotion. Von Recklinghausen* first drew attention 

 to the presence of these u migrating cells." Such corpuscles can 

 change their location only in the interstitial liquid portions of the 

 basis-substance. Their presence is by no means the rule. 



Of the connective- tissue corpuscles, of course the " fixed cells " 

 alone are united with each other. In myxomatous tissue the cor- 

 puscles are connected by thick and wide offshoots, constituting 

 the " stellate cells" of Virchow. In hyaline cartilage the union is 

 by delicate offshoots j while in the fibrous tissue, in fibrous car- 

 tilage and bone, the corpuscles are joined by both thick and slender 

 offshoots. The basis-substance, which was formerly supposed to 

 be structureless, is to-day known to be traversed by a delicate 

 reticulum of living matter, the meshes of which are somewhat 

 larger than that of the plastids j by means of this reticulum the 

 connection between the plastids is established. 



The reason why the reticular structure of the basis-substance is not, or 

 so little, marked in the fresh condition of the tissue, is that there is not 

 sufficient difference between the refracting power of basis-substance and of 

 living matter. It can be brought to view either by staining re-agents, such as 

 nitrate of silver and chloride of gold, or by alteration of the refraction of 

 the basis-substance, such as its liquefaction in the inflammatory process or 

 deposition of lime-salts. The latter occurrence, both in normal and morbid 



* Virchow's Archiv. Bd. xxviii. 



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