76 LECTURE II. 



the fact that some of the cells enlarge and become stuffed 

 full of fat, the nucleus being thereby thrust to one side. 

 In itself, however, the structure of adipose tissue is pre- 

 cisely the same as that of connective tissue, and, under 

 certain circumstances, the fat may so completely disap- 

 pear that the adipose tissue is once more reduced to the 

 state of simple, gelatinous connective, or mucous tissue. 

 Amongst these different species of connective tissue 

 the most important for our present pathological views, 

 are, generally speaking, those in which a reticular ar- 

 rangement of the cells exists, or, in other words, in which 

 they anastomose with one another. Wherever, namely, 

 such anastomoses take place, wherever one cell is con- 

 nected with another, it may with some degree of cer- 

 tainty be demonstrated that these anastomoses constitute 

 a peculiar system of tubes or canals which must be 

 classed with the great canalicular system of the body, 

 and which particularly, forming as they do a supplement 

 to the blood- and lymphatic vessels, must be regarded as 

 a new acquisition to our knowledge, and as in some sort 

 filling up the vacancy left by the old vasa serosa which 

 do not exist. This reticular arrangement is possible in 

 cartilage, connective tissue, bone and mucous tissue in 

 the most different parts ; but in all cases those tissues 

 which possess anastomoses of this description may be 

 distinguished from those whose elements are isolated, by 

 the greater energy with which they are capable of con- 

 ducting different morbid processes. 



