FIBRILLAR CONNECTIVE TISSUE. 



71 



them probably consist rather of Chitin. Schlossberger * ob- 

 tained no gelatine from the claws of crabs. 



Originally, fibrillar connective tissue, as already mentioned, 

 was the only form to which the term connective tissue was 

 applied. The morphological constituents which can be 

 demonstrated in it, are fibres and cells of various kinds. These 

 elements are only here and there in direct contact with each 

 other ; elsewhere the intervening spaces are occupied with a 

 material of variable consistence. 



In the fibrillar connective tissue of adult animals a certain 

 kind of the fibrous elementary form constitutes so large a pro- 

 portion of the old tissue that it exclusively occupied the 

 attention of the earlier investigators. This is composed of the 



Fig. 2. Tendon of man, showing fibrils and fusiform cells. 



already frequently mentioned gelatine-yielding fibril. The 

 simplest preparation, the mere teasing out with needles of a 

 small portion of fibrillar connective tissue, shows that it may 

 be split into skein-like portions of various breadth. 



The lateral borders of these cords present straight or more 

 or less sinuous outlines ; and with strong magnifying powers 

 fine striae may. be observed lying in close contiguity to one 



* Chemie der Gewebe. Leipzig und Heidelberg, 1856, p. 300. 



