222 CONNECTIVE TISSUE. 



In the bodies, which were indistinctly spotted, I could often see 

 a nucleus-like formation, with scalloped outlines. "The cell- 

 body/' I said, " is surrounded by a light, narrow zone, in which 

 numerous conical offshoots are visible, emanating from the cell- 

 body, and exhibiting the same character as the cell-body." In 

 many places I could trace these extremely delicate, branching 

 offshoots for a considerable distance in the basis-substance, and 

 saw them unite with the offshoots of neighboring corpuscles. 

 When the offshoots could not be followed far away from the 

 body, I found their continuations to be the light, branching 

 canals in the basis-substance. 



The offshoots and their anastomoses I could see very plainly 

 in specimens stained with chloride of gold, where the dark violet 

 bone-corpuscles were seen sharply denned upon the pale violet 

 basis. The offshoots were likewise distinctly visible in speci- 

 mens of bone, decalcified by lactic acid. With this method 

 the corpuscles seemed not to have shriveled, as the rim be- 

 tween them and the basis-substance was not broader than in 

 fresh specimens. 



In specimens preserved in chromic acid, the bone-corpuscles 

 appeared somewhat shriveled. The basis-substance inclosing their 

 cavity was traversed by numerous canals. Most of the offshoots 

 of the corpuscle resembled conical thorns, which terminated in 

 fine points toward the calibers of the canals, but only in a few of 

 these could I discern a granular substance which possessed the 

 characteristics of the corpuscle. 



In normal bone, I was convinced that the bone-corpuscles had 

 offshoots which partly projected in the canaliculi, partly inoscu- 

 lated with each other. A plain view of these offshoots, however, 

 could be obtained only in bone, in which an inflammation had 

 been artificially induced. . One of the first noticeable changes in 

 osteitis was the swelling of the corpuscle and the increased dis- 

 tinctness of its offshoots. These observations are illustrated on 

 page 126, Fig. 40. 



In 1872 I was not aware of the significance of the union of the 

 bone-corpuscles, and it was not until a year later that I made use of 

 the structure of bone-tissue for pointing out new biological views. 

 I have been led, by careful researches of osteitis, to the conviction 

 that the basis-substance must be pervaded by a large amount of 

 living matter in reticular arrangement, which after liquefaction 

 of the basis-substance is freed and participates largely in the 

 inflammatory new formation. Direct proofs of the presence of 



