TISSUES OF THE BODY. 



215 



the closest scrutiny in order to make out their boundaries at all. The 

 recognition of them is rendered, moreover, difficult by their not lying 

 all in the same plane as a rule, but at very variable intervals, and 

 their being bent and squeezed into the greatest variety of shapes besides 

 by their position. 



Many years ago Henle had remarked peculiar flattened nucleated 

 cells (like epithelial elements) lying in rows between the bundles of which 

 tendons are made up. Mttnvier, an excellent French observer, has directed 

 attention to the same in the tail tendons of the rodents, falling into the 

 error, however, of taking them for tubular elements curled on them- 

 selves. 



Fig. 208 will give an idea of the nature of the parts. 



But how variable is this system of bent cells investing imperfectly 

 the surface of the tendon bundle ! Immoderate tension converts them, 

 into extremely delicate long nucleated bodies like fibres, while, on the 

 part relaxing, the flat cells may curl and warp anew. 



It is not the tendons alone, however, which display these flat cells: 

 their presence in the cornea also 

 was maintained by an excellent 

 observer, Schweiyger-Seidel, whose 

 early death is to be lamented. 

 They have been accurately described 

 by F lemming as occurring in soft 

 formless connective-tissue in their 

 usual strange, jagged, crumpled 

 shape. His drawings, our fig. 209, 

 are very faithful. 



In spite of every effort, however, 

 we are still as regards the connective- 

 tissue cell but very imperfectly 

 enlightened. Let us not forget this 

 fact. 



In order to convey a clear idea 

 of what we have just stated, we 

 repeat fig. 210 in illustration as 

 we close the section. In this we 

 have connective-tissue corpuscles as 

 they are seen altered by the ac- 

 tion of acetic acid. At a, b, ft, 

 and c, d, d, we perceive tolerably 

 simple cells from foetal connective- 

 tissue : i-e, on the other hand, 



are purely artificial productions, dis- Fi* 209.-Cells from the formles 9 connective- 

 J r , tissue of a young rabbit just born (a), and ot 



tortions Which have more than a mature Guinea-pig (6). 



once played a part in the history 



of both normal and pathological histology. 



Thus it was formerly maintained that the formation of elastic fibres 

 took place from those narrow elongated structures, connected with one 

 another by long thin processes. But although the appearance of the 

 latter under the microscope, as well as their bearing under treatment 

 with strong mineral acids, is the same, still they differ from elastic fibrous 

 networks in being destroyed by strong alkaline leys, while the latter 

 resist the action of the same (Koelliker), 

 15 



