CONNECTIVE TISSUE IN MUSCLE. 421 



IV. 



ON THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE IN MUSCLE. 

 BY J. H. GOODMAN. 



IN a paper from the hygienic institute in Wiirzburg, E. 

 Schepilewsky * has quite recently described a new method 

 for the determination of connective tissue in muscle. Strips 

 of meat are gently rubbed in a mortar with water, the ktter 

 being repeatedly renewed. It is possible to remove the bulk 

 of the true muscular tissue in this mechanical way, and to 

 retain the meshwork of connective tissue. The water is next 

 poured through a fine sieve which holds the detached pieces of 

 connective tissue, but allows the muscle elements to pass 

 through. According to Schepilewsky, practically all of the 

 connective tissue can thus be retained, while only small quan- 

 tities of muscle fibres themselves are held back hi the mesh- 

 work of tissue. The latter is now rubbed up with five per 

 cent sodium hydroxide solution and allowed to stand in contact 

 with the alkali for some time. The true muscle elements are 

 found entirely dissolved at the end of fifteen hours ; the con- 

 nective tissue swells up and becomes transparent, showing 

 the elastic fibres in clear outline. The undissolved mass is 

 thereupon filtered through a perforated porcelain plate covered 

 with cotton-wool and is washed well with water ; the entire 

 residue, including cotton, is next boiled gently for five or ten 

 minutes with a small volume of half per cent sodium hydroxide 

 solution. The collagen passes into solution in the hot alkali, 

 leaving the elastic fibres undissolved. By determining the 

 nitrogen in a portion of the filtered solution, the amount of 

 collagen dissolved can readily be estimated. In discussing the 

 details of the method, Schepilewsky writes as follows, regarding 

 the action of the strong alkali : " The lye dissolves the proteids, 

 at the same time saponifying the fats and extracting from the 

 connective tissue the greater part of the mucin ; the latter is 



* Schepilewsky, Archiv fur Hygiene, 1899, xxxiv, p. 348. 



