OF THE CELLULAR TISSUE. 1 t 5 



also, included by Haller in the tissue of which we are speak- 

 ing, should be distinguished from it. 



143. Anatomists have not yet agreed on the internal con- 

 formation of the cellular tissue. Some of them, with Haller, 

 considering it as having distinct cells, of a determined form 

 and size, made by the multiplied intercrossings of laminae and 

 filaments. Others again, as Bordeu, Wolff, and Meckel, say 

 that this tissue is merely a viscous, tenacious, coutinuous sub- 

 stance, unfurnished with laminae and cells, and that these lat- 

 ter, when they do exist; are the result of the operations made 

 to demonstrate them. The following is what we learn upon 

 this subject by inspection. 



When we examine the section of a muscle by the glass, we 

 perceive that the fibres are not in contact, but are separated 

 by a transparent substance; if we draw aside these fibres, this 

 substance forms filaments, which are extended as we draw, 

 and finally break. Those who look upon the cellular tissue as 

 a sort of gluten, take this opportunity to remark, that it would 

 be precisely thus, if these fibres were separated by glue. 

 Around the entire muscle, we find an evident lamina, which, 

 in the same way, by distension, takes the form of filaments; 

 by blowing air under this lamina, it is transformed into irregu- 

 lar cells, separated by species of partitions. It would appear 

 then, that round the smaller parts, the cellular tissue, is really 

 a sort of jelly, while around the larger, its laminae are appa- 

 rent If, instead of air, we inject water, and freeze it there, 

 irregular crystals filling the cells are obtained: a similar result 

 follows the injection of a coagulable matter. But these cells 

 are never regularly disposed, nor are their forms geometrical, 

 as has been said ; their figure may even vary, when produced 

 at repeated trials in the same spot. 



Whether the laminae, fibres, and cells, are pre-existent in 

 the cellular tissue, or whether they depend only on its separa- 

 tion, is a question, on which, as we have seen, there is much 

 doubt. Possessed of a sufficiently distinct organization, where- 

 ever its thickness is considerable, this tissue seems inorganic 

 in those places where it is thinner, and even different between 

 the smaller fibres of the muscles. In admitting the existence 



