428 



INFLAMMA TION. 



corpuscles are, as a rule, found after the involution of the organ. 

 Among the blood-vessels, the arteries of the spleen are often 

 seen in waxy degeneration before the other constituent parts 

 are attacked. (See Fig. 178.) The degeneration starts in the 

 smooth muscle-fibers of the middle coat 5 these are enlarged, 

 transformed into a homogeneous mass, in which no trace of 

 structure or of nuclei can be recognized. In the kidneys, the 

 waxy change is sometimes observed in the walls of the capillaries 

 sooner than in the arteries. In the liver, waxy degeneration 

 takes place independently of the blood-vessels. 



Muscle-tissue is often subject to this degeneration, especially 



FIG. 178. WAXY DEGENERATION OF AN ARTERY OF THE SPLEEN OF A 

 MAN AFFECTED WITH SYPHILIS. 



H, endothelial coat of artery ; Jf, muscle-coat of artery, in waxy degeneration ; B, bundles 

 of smooth muscle-fibers accompanying the artery ; D, lymph-corpuscles in the myxomatous 

 reticulum. Magnified 600 diameters. 



the muscle of the heart, predominantly the wall of the left ven- 

 tricle, by which this structure is enlarged, rendered friable, and 

 of a peculiar lardaceous luster. 



Waxy degeneration is often found in nerve-tissue, both in the 

 gray substance and the ganglionic elements, in connection with 

 similar changes in the walls of the blood-vessels, and also without 



