ELASTIC TISSUE. 



23 



tissue used for the attachment of muscles, and may either be 

 arranged in the form of aponeurosis or in solid bands ; it has 

 a satin-like lustre of con- 

 siderable brilliancy. When 

 tendons rupture during life, 

 they snap straight across. 

 Ligament is white fibrous 

 tissue used for binding 

 bones together; it is not 

 so lustrous as tendon ; and 

 when it gives way, which 

 is very seldom, it does not 

 snap but tears. In all these 

 fasciculated forms of con- 

 nective tissue, the cor- 

 puscles are elongated, and 

 lie in the direction of the Fig. 5. APONEUROSTS, human, 

 fibres. In tendon they are flattened, and have been seen 

 in specimens from young animals to lie in sheets between 

 bundles of the fibrous substance. Tendon and ligament are 

 quite inextensible, and all white fibrous tissue, even when by 

 injury to its texture it is gradually stretched, is destitute of 

 resiliency. 



11. Elastic Tissue occurs both in the form of fibres and 

 thin homogeneous membranes. It gets its name from being 

 highly extensible and resilient, and is most widely distributed 

 in the fibrous form. In the human subject there is only one 

 set of ligaments which consist of nearly pure elastic tissue, 

 namely, the ligamenta subflava, which join together the 

 arches of the vertebrae, and get their name from the yellow 

 colour peculiar to elastic fibres. They facilitate, by their 

 resiliency, the resumption of the erect posture when the back 

 has been bent forward. In quadrupeds two other notable 

 instances of pure elastic tissue may be mentioned. One is 

 the ligamentum nuchse, a strong band extending from the 

 back of the skull, and attaching it to the withers or dorsal 

 spines; the other is in the form of an aponeurosis, which 

 lies on the abdominal wall, and aids the support of the 

 viscera. On examining fibres from any of these sources, it is 

 seen that they may be of considerable breadth ; that loosened 



