OF THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM IN GENERAL. 417 



they all, after being first divided' in. the cellular membrane, 

 and there presenting considerable anastomoses, penetrate at 

 various angles the divers bundles, and are there again sub- 

 divided in order to penetrate between the fasciculi, and more- 

 over into the intervals of the fibres, always following the cel- 

 lular envelops, and continually presenting new divisions and 

 new anastomoses. In all their course, these vessels accompany 

 the divisions of the muscles by twigs parallel to them, and 

 again cross the direction by other transverse twigs which -sur- 

 round them. Arrived at their ultimate point of division, the 

 arteries continue their course with the veins, without our be- 

 ing able to ascertain how they contribute to the texture and to 

 the nutrition of the fleshy fibres. 



It is not-to.the blood-vessels of the muscles that the reddish 

 colour of these organs is owing, for the interior muscles, which 

 are very vascular, are whitish. 



Lymphatic vessels are to be distinctly seen in the intervals 

 between the greater pfcrt of the muscles, and in the thickness 

 of some of them; as to the manner in which they arise, it is 

 unknown: possibly they may be the continuation -of the cellu- 

 lar tissue interme.dial to the fibres. 



662. The nerves of the muscles are very voluminous; ex- 

 cepting the skin and the senses, no part is so abundantly pro- 

 vided with them. In general they are proportionate in num- 

 ber and size to the volume of the muscles; nevertheless the in- 

 terior muscles have less in general than the others, and among 

 these latter, those of the skeleton less than those'of the larynx 

 and senses. They generally accompany the bloodvessels, and 

 particularly the arteries, and are slightly attached to them by 

 the cellular tissue. In order to perceive them distinctly, the 

 muscles must be mascerated until arrived at a state of putre- 

 faction, which in effect destroys the muscles more rapidly than 

 the. nerves; they penetrate at divers points into the muscles, 

 and there are divided in the same manner as the vessels; but 

 they very soon elude the sight, without the possibility of being 

 seen by.any artificial means; so that nothing can be positively 

 affirmed as to their termination. It is conjectured with some 

 appearance of probability, that .their divisions extend as far as ' 



