152 OFFSHOOTS DO NOT CORRESPOND TO CANALICULI. 



canaliculus were a process of the bioplasm, that 

 portion nearest to the bioplasm would be the first part 

 developed. The first part of the canalicukis which is 

 formed is not that which is nearest to, but that which 

 is most distant from, the lioplasm, and the widest part 

 of the canaliculus is always that nearest to the lacuna. 

 The lacuna of young imperfectly developed bone is, 

 of cours-e, always much larger that that of the fully 

 formed osseous tissue of the same animal. 



Virchow, it will be remarked ventures to say vert- 

 little concerning the changes which result in the 

 deposition of calcareous matter and offers no sugges- 

 tion as to the nature of the process by which calcifica- 

 tion is effected ; nor has he determined exactly in what 

 part of the matrix the change commences. He tells 

 us that " at last the calcification of the intercellular 

 substance ensues ! " 



211. The ofT^hoots do not correspond to the cana- 

 liciUi. — The appearances which have led Virchow and 

 other observers to maintain that the lacunce and ca- 

 nahculi formed a cell with its offshoots, can be satis- 

 factorily explained without resorting to such a view, 

 which is quite incompatible with many facts which 

 have been conclusively demoustratecl, while all at- 

 tempts to show the supposed offshoots boring their 

 way have signally failed. The stellate appearance of 

 the nucleus, which was supposed to indicate the com- 

 mencement of the shooting-out operation, has nothing- 

 whatever to do with the formation of the canaliculi ; 

 for the "offshoots " never correspond in number with 

 the canaliculi. Virchow, however, talks of the pro- 

 cesses which are to become the canaliculi " borino- " 

 their way " through the intercellular substance like 

 the villi of the chorion do into the mucous membrane, 

 and into the vessels of the uterus " — forgetting that 

 the canaliculi exist before the formation of the so- 

 called "intercellular substance" is complete, and that 

 the end of each villus of the chorion is a mass of 



