THE AREOLAR TISSUE. 291 



ance to the surgeon, especially in regard to the making of incisions 

 preliminary to the ligation of arteries. It is, of course, only in 

 situations where the areolse are large, and filled with fat-cells, that 

 these changes occur; as on the abdomen, the neck, and the limbs espe- 

 cially. It less affects the back of the trunk, since there the tissue 

 is much more condensed, and the areolae are therefore very small. 



Development of Areolar Tissue. 



In the earliest period at which the areolar tissue can be examined, 

 Schwann has described it as consisting of nucleated particles, send- 

 ing offsets on the opposite sides, and uniting themselves with others 

 in the vicinity. The threads thus formed are at first homogeneous; 

 the longitudinal streaks and the wavy character appear subsequently. 

 Normally and originally, however, we believe that the yellow fibrous 

 element alone is developed from cells (p. 283). 



The development of areolar tissue consists, in fact, merely of the 

 simultaneous development of the white and the yellow fibrous tis- 

 sues in the same blastema. These elements subsequently become 

 blended, as found in the different situations already described. 



When new formations of areolar tissue occur, however, as in in- 

 flammatory exudations, subcutaneous wounds, &c., the white fibrous 

 element may be developed either from cells or directly from the 

 plasma, as has been shown by Mr. Paget. 



1. In case of repair by granulation, and of inflammatory adhe- 

 sions and indurations, the white fibrous element of the areolar tissue 

 is developed from cells. "The cells first formed in the plastic exu- 

 dation are round, very slightly granular, and from yg 1 ^ to ^o 1 ^ of 

 an inch in diameter; they have a distinct cell- wall, which is readily 

 brought into view by the action of water, if not apparent at first : 

 and they present a round, dark-edged nucleus, whose sharp defini- 

 tion distinguishes it from that of the colorless corpuscles of the 

 blood, to which these cells otherwise bear a close resemblance. It 

 is in this nucleus that the first developmental change shows itself, 

 for it assumes an oval form, and its substance becomes clearer and 

 brighter. Yery soon, however, the cell itself elongates at one or 

 both ends, so as to assume the caudate, fusiform, or lanceolate shape 

 (Fig. 184); and its contents become more minutely and distinctly, 

 granular, whilst the cell-wall thins away, or becomes blended with 

 its inclosure. As the cells elongate more and more, so as to assume 

 the filamentous form, they also arrange themselves in such a manner 



