CARTILAGES. 287 



those cartilages are, on a vertical section, seen to be narrow 

 and much elongated; while many of those imbedded in their 

 soft and central parts are large and perfectly globular ; many 

 others of these, again, are in the condition of parent cells, and 

 enclose either numerous nuclei or else many perfectly formed 

 secondary cells; lastly, cells occasionally present themselves 

 made up of concentric vesicles enclosed one within the 

 other. Groups of adherent nuclei are also frequently met 

 with deprived of an investing membrane. For representa- 

 tions of these several forms of cells, see the figures. 



Henle * describes as occurring in the epiglottis certain 

 large, spherical, or oval cells, presenting in their interior 

 an oblong cavity from which proceed little branched tubes, 

 which extend in all directions, even to the surface of the 

 cells. These cells would appear to have some analogy with 

 the osseous corpuscles. I have made diligent search for 

 them in the epiglottis, but hitherto have failed to meet with 

 them. 



The fibro-cartilages are not soluble to the same extent in 

 boiling water as the true, which are almost entirely so, and 

 therefore yield less chondrine or jelly, The cells of these 

 cartilages also resist the action of the water for a longer period 

 than the intercellular substance, f 



NUTRITION OF CARTILAGE. 



Cartilages are amongst the number of non-vascular sub- 

 stances that is, they do not, in general, receive into their 

 own tissue distinct blood vessels, but derive their nourish- 

 ment from those which are distributed to the parts adjacent 

 to them. 



Thus, the articular cartilages are supplied with nutriment 

 from the vessels which are so freely distributed to the ex- 



* Anat. Gen., vol. vii. p. 370. 



f Meckauer (Cartilag. Structura, 1836,) appears to have been the first 

 to give, under the direction of Purkinje, a complete and accurate de- 

 scription of the cartilages of the human body. 



