OF THE ARTICULAR SYNOVIAL CAPSULE. 169 



When a bone is sawed, break the cartilage at its extremity, 

 and the connexion is still kept up between the two halves by 

 the synovial membrane which extends from the one to the 

 other. 



Throughout the remainder of their extent, i. e. on the edge 

 of the articulation, the synovial membranes are attached to the 

 articulary ligaments, in an equally close way as is seen in the 

 scapulo-humeral articulation : the adhesion is particularly in- 

 timate in the middle and becomes looser towards the extremi- 

 ties. In the intervals between the ligaments, these membranes 

 correspond to the fatty and cellular tissues: these tissues form 

 distinct pellets there as well as near the place where the sy- 

 novial membrane leaves the ligaments to be reflected on the 

 bones. 



The internal surface is smooth, polished, contiguous to 

 itself, lubricated by the synovia, and furnished with villosities 

 and fimbriated prolongations. 



215. The synovial membranes are thin, soft, semi-trans- 

 parent, whitish, extensible to a certain degree, although less 

 so than the splanchnic serous membrane, and retractile, a fact 

 demonstrated by their dropsy and their return to their original 

 dimensions after the evacuation of the accumulated fluid. Their 

 rupture in relaxations depends less on their want of extensi- 

 bility, than on their close connections and the small extent of 

 their folds. 



216. These membranes are provided with fatty pellets 

 placed on their exterior or even in their interior, and impro- 

 perly called the synovial glands of Havers. These pellets, 

 perceived by Vesalius and Etienne, described by Cowper and 

 particularly by Cl. Havers,* until the time of Monro, were 

 regarded as the secreting organs of the synovia, t Their size 

 varies according to the quantity of fat they contain : they al- 

 ways contain more or less of this fluid, and are almost entire- 

 ly formed of adipose tissue. The fringes exist on the inte- 



* De ossibus, sernio iv. chap. I. 



f See Pitschel. De axungid articular. Lips. 1740. Hanse. De unguine 

 articulari, efusque vitiis. Lips. 1774. 



