PRIMARY TISSUES :—SIMPLE FIBROUS TISSUES. 37 
“merely'to the physical actions of the framework ; as, for ex- 
ample, by holding its parts together, by communicating motion, 
‘or by giving them mechanical support and protection —The 
‘several parts of the body, even to the very minute divisions 
of its organs, are held together by what may be termed, in 
contradistinction to Muscular and Nervous fibre, the simple 
jibrous tissues ; and these are merely endowed, like ordinary 
cords, with the power of resisting tension or strain, either 
‘without themselves yielding to it at all, or with a certain 
amount of elasticity, which enables them first to yield to 
@ certain degree, and then to recover their previous state. 
| These two qualities are characteristic of two distinct forms of 
simple fibrous tissue, the white and the yellow. 
_ 23. The White fibrous tissue presents itself under various 
‘forms, being sometimes composed of fibres so minute as to be 
‘scarcely distinguishable, but 
‘more commonly presenting 
iiself under the aspect of 
‘flattened bands, which are 
Dut imperfectly divided into 
fibres, and have more or less 
of a wavy aspect (fig. 1). This 
fissue is resolved, by long 
Boiling, into gelatine; and 
when treated with acetic acid, 2 
it swells up and becomes Fig. 1.—Wuire Frisrovs Tissvz. 
ansparent, by which peculiarity it can be readily dis- 
ished from the other kind, to be next described. The 
ek 
. 
Heeieas 
Yellow fibrous tissue presents —— 
itself in the form of long, | AN yA 
separate,clearly defined fibres, NYY Wifi 
which sometimes branch,and X AN \ 
hich break short off when 
Overstrained, their extremi- 
es being disposed to curl up 
fig. 2). They are, for the most 
rt, between 1-5,000th and 
0,000th of an inch in 
\ SS 
It \ 
ie \ VA A 
jam eter ; but they are often Fig. 2.—YxELtow Fisrovs Tissve. 
met with both larger and smaller. This kind of tissue un- 
ergoes but very little change from long boiling, and it is 
