INFLAMMA TION. 



391 



plainly the shining, nearly homogeneous-looking bone-corpuscle, with off- 

 shoots in every direction, filling the whole caliber of the canaliculi. It solves 

 the question of the contents of the canaliculi in bone by direct observation. 

 The living matter in bone behaves precisely as in other tissues under the 

 influence of the inflammatory process that is to say, the central mass 

 becomes a shining and nearly homogeneous lump, the offshoots from which 

 occupy the whole caliber of the canaiiculi, and by this the analogy of bone 

 to all other varieties of connective tissue is established. That is to say, here, 

 as elsewhere, the living part of the bioplasson forms a continuous net-work 

 throughout the whole animal body, 

 in the meshes of which a more or 

 less fluid basis-substance is found, 

 differing in its chemical properties 

 in different situations, which in 

 bone is glue-giving, and infiltrated 

 with lime-salts. 



I have followed the methods, in 

 my examination of bone tissue, as 

 above described. This enabled me, 

 by the use of the razor, to obtain 

 sections fit to be examined by an 

 immersion lens magnifying 800 to 

 1000 diameters. I noticed that the 

 canaliculi could be plainly seen in 

 sections, the basis-substance of 

 which had retained a small quan- 

 tity of lime-salts ; in completely de- 

 calcified specimens they are very 

 faintly discernible. According to 

 my experience, it is better to stain 

 the sections witn a solution of chlo- 

 ride of gold of the half of one per 

 cent., whereby a better view of both 

 bioplasson and basis-substance is obtained. Another good way is to stain the 

 sections with carmine and hgematoxylon. 



The results of my observations with high magnifying powers are that bone- 

 tissue presents faint parallel lines, dividing it into the so-called lamellae, 

 within which we find the bone-corpuscles, the shapes of which vary according 

 to the direction of the cut and of the lamellae. As bone-corpuscles are flattened 

 lenticular bodies, we will recognize them in this shape in the front view only. 

 Longitudinal sections through these bodies give a spindle-shaped outline, 

 small when cut near the boundary, broad when cut through the middle line 

 of the lentil. A cross-section through a bone-corpuscle shows a somewhat 

 irregular body. A cross-section from the compact bone of a lower jaw 

 presents invariably bone-corpuscles in all three varieties. (See Fig. 165.) 



We see large spaces, showing a number of ray-shaped offshoots. Besides 

 these coarse offshoots, innumerable extremely fine light ones are present. The 

 larger as well as the smaller all communicate with each other, forming a deli- 

 cate net-work through the whole of the basis-substance. Within the lacunas 

 are present " protoplasmic " bodies. We observe, in the centers, shining 

 oblong nuclei and nucleoli. Around the nuclei we see a narrow seam, trav- 



FIG. 165. NORMAL BONE-TISSUE OF 

 THE LOWER JAW OF A MAN, AGED 

 THIRTY YEARS. CHROMIC ACID 

 SPECIMEN, STAINED WITH CHLORIDE 

 OF GOLD. 



Three bone-corpuscles, pi, with an oblong 

 nucleus ; PZ, with a globular nucleus, both ex- 

 hibiting indistinct nucleoli ; PS, with a small, 

 compact nucleus. Magnified 1000 diameters. 



