THE CONNECTIVE SUBSTANCE GROUP. 77 



laceration of the tissue in preparing it, some of the bodies 

 having been torn out and others forced to the side of the cor- 

 neal space. There seems to be a very general agreement that 

 the intercellular substance may be separated into indepen- 

 dent fibrils ; but I have seen no decisive proof bearing on this 

 point. 



Elastic tissue. This differs from the other forms micro- 

 scopically and chemically, though it is often combined with 

 them in the body. It is also convenient to class it by itself 

 for other reasons, chief of which are, that its corpuscular ele- 

 ments have not yet been definitely shown in adult tissue. 

 Yirchow, some years ago, stated that this tissue, as well as 

 other connective substances, was composed of networks, the 

 substance of the fibres containing certain markings, and he in- 

 ferred that these latter might be the corpuscles of the tissue. 

 Elastic fibres were, however, according to him and others, noth- 

 ing but the ordinary fibrous tissue condensed. Each fibre was 

 hollow and capable of conveying the nutritive juices. 



Henle, in his earlier writings, regarded the elastic fibres as 

 emanating from the nuclei, of which, in fact, he stated they 

 were prolongations. Subsequently, he seems to have believed 

 that the fibres originated in the basis substance. 



Reichert could not trace the connection between the nuclei 

 and the elastic fibres, and, when the latter had formed, the 

 former had disappeared. 



Boll, however, distinctly stated that the elastic fibres, each 

 one constituting an "elastic cord," arise from the plate-like 

 cells. 



Ranvier examined tendon- tissue, as mentioned before, but 

 he was only able to find the elastic fibres after boiling the tis- 

 sue from eight to ten hours. It is proper, however, to add 

 here, that elastic fibres are very uncommon in tendon-tissue, 

 at least they have not often been observed. 



The fibres of the elastic substance are pretty readily re- 

 cognized by the fact that they are not colored by carmine or 

 hsematoxylin, and do not swell with acetic acid ; they branch 

 dichotomously, these branches forming, with similar branches 

 of other elastic fibres, networks. 



Elastic tissue prevails in the ligamentum nuchae of the ox, 

 in the serous membranes generally, and in the subcutaneous 

 connective tissue of the skin, as well as in the delicate inter- 



