316 THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM, BY F. y. RECKLINGHAUSEN. 



that perforate the lamellae in an oblique direction. In soft 

 interstitial and investing connective tissue, like the peri- 

 mysium, the canals appear extraordinarily wide, the dilatations 

 in particular being in close proximity with each other, and the 

 solid tissue, in which the canals are imbedded, being much 

 diminished in quantity. Lastly, in all soft organs lying imme- 

 diately upon the surface, in the most superficial layers of the 

 capsules of the joints, in the serous membranes, and in the 

 mucous membrane of the intestine, the solid portions are reduced 

 to thin septa, which very incompletely separate the closely 

 approximated spaces lined with cells. All these varieties con- 

 stitute gradations of one and the same type, the terminal 

 members of which present, on the one hand, the form of a 

 cylindrical tube, and on the other, that of a lacuna ; neither of 

 them, however, represent the typical form, and it is conse- 

 quently most appropriate to employ the term canal, since it 

 expresses nothing definite with regard to their form. 



In opposition to the importance which I attribute to the silvered 

 preparations, various objections have been adduced, with all of which 

 I am acquainted, since I have myself formerly had to meet them ; but 

 from my numerous researches I draw the conclusion that all the indis- 

 tinct appearances obtained by those who oppose my method, proceed 

 from injuries, accidental rents, and alteration of chemical composition ; 

 and I still believe that no method is more suitable than mine. Ail ob- 

 jections to it may be disposed of in the words of Schweigger-Seidel : 

 "The regularity of the figures, the constancy with which the same 

 forms recur in certain localities, and the presence of nuclei, which 

 however are not always equally distinct, in their interior, furnish satis- 

 factory proof that they are not accidental formations." Schweigger- 

 Seidel makes the above statement only in regard to the lines showing 

 the presence of an epithelium, and maintains that the indications of 

 the presence of serous canals, after the removal of the epithelium, 

 originate in an albuminous layer, subjacent to the epithelium, and con- 

 sequently upon the surface, and not in the interior of the connective- 

 tissue lamina. I do not, however, quite comprehend why Schweig- 

 ger-Seidel leaves quite out of consideration the markings produced by 

 silver in the cornea ; for in the cornea it is quite easy to demon- 

 strate that the layer on which the silver acts is not equivalent to the 

 anterior surface of the cornea, which first comes into contact with the 

 solution of silver, but riot unfrequently rather lies in close approxima- 



