130 GENERAL ANATOMY. 



156. The adipose tissue presents appearances varying ac- 

 cording to the places where it is examined. Under the skin 

 it forms a layer more or less thick and everywhere extended. 

 In the orbits, in the thickness of the cheeks, in the interior of 

 the pelvis, front of the pubis, about the kidneys, &c., it re- 

 sembles rounded masses. On the loose edge of the epiploon, 

 in the epiploical appendages of the intestine, and on the level 

 of the openings which are found on the exterior of the perito- 

 neum, these masses are pyriform and pediculated. In the 

 epiploon, the fat is disposed in fillets or ribands that follow 

 the track of the vessels. 



157. Although the fat, is not so universally distributed 

 as the cellular tissue, it is nevertheless, found in many places. 



The vertebral canal contains a small portion of it outside 

 the dura-mater. It exists in considerable quantities about the 

 head, particularly in the face, in the parotid notches, in the 

 cheeks, &c. In the neck this tissue is more abundant behind 

 than before. In the external and internal parts of the thorax it 

 exists in remarkable quantities in the vicinity of the heart, as 

 well as between the pectoral muscles and about the mammae. 

 The fat of the abdomen is principally situated outside the kid- 

 neys, in the pelvis, in the thickness of the mesentery, of the 

 epiploon and of the appendica epiploicoe. In the limbs, fat is 

 more abundant about the articulations in the direction of the 

 flexion, as well as in those places that are exposed to constant 

 pressure, as the nates and the sole of the foot. 



The fatty tissue varies according to the organ in which it is 

 placed. That which is under the skin always remains, cases 

 of extreme emaciation excepted, and is continued into the 

 areolae of the skin. There is none found under the mucous 

 membranes. The synovial and serous membranes, on the con- 

 trary, are lined by this tissue, particulary in the thickness of 

 their folds. The adipose tissue which surrounds the muscles, 

 penetrates likewise into the thickness of those that are divided 

 into distinct fasciculi, as the great glutoeus, &c. In the lobu- 

 late glands it is seen in the spaces between the lobes. The 

 sheaths of vessels, generally contains but little. The large 



