CONNECTIVE TISSUE. 109 



The juice-conveyiiig chaniiels, described by Vir- 

 cliow as so necessary for the distribution of nutrient 

 matter to the tissues, thus receive very different 

 interpretation. It is now more than ten years since 

 the views here given concerning the supposed nutrient 

 juice- conveying channels were advanced, and quite 

 time that the question of fact were examined by other 

 observers. It is manifestly detrimental to the inte- 

 rests of science that erroneous views should be 

 repeated year after year, although they have been 

 distinctly proved to be erroneous. 



138. Connective tissue has foi-med the battle-ground 

 of many a scientific conflict, and the most extreme 

 views have been entertained concerning its nature. 

 By some it has been regarded as one of the most im- 

 portant and necessary of tissues in the organism, and 

 as contributing to the support of higher and more com- 

 plex textures, and concerned in the distribution of 

 nutrient material to them. It has been maintained 

 that some parts of the nervous system consist almost 

 exclusively of connective tissue ; and this textui'e 

 has long been regarded as a most important and ne- 

 cessary constituent of nerve organs. Indeed, some 

 have affirmed this to be the tissue in which nerves 

 end. But, in opposition to these views, a great array 

 of most important facts has been advanced. In some 

 of the lower animals remarkable for their elaborate 

 and delicate textures, which one would think really 

 do require support, no connective tissue is to be found, 

 while in the higher animals and man, scarcely a trace 

 of the texture is to be met with at a very early 

 period of development when the tissues are very soft 

 and delicate, and when, therefore, they are most in 

 need of support ; at this time also they require a vast 

 amount of nutrient material distributed to them ia 

 the most perfect manner, but notwithstanding their 

 necessities, this tissue, supposed to be necessary for 

 the conveyance of nutrient matter to them, is absent. 



