280 



VETERINARY PATHOLDGY. 



various directions and occupj'ing ' practically the entire space, 

 there being no interfunicular spaces. The bundles are compact 

 masses of parallel, wavy fibres, with here and there a cell. The 

 fibres are of two \arieties, viz. : glia fibres and collagen fibres. 

 Glia fibres are found along the surface of the cell and are parallel 

 to its long axis. The^- are straight or slightly cur\-cd and prob- 

 ably extend from one cell to another. Collagen fibres are out- 

 side but lie close to the cell and apjjear slightly wavy. Collagen 

 fibres predominate in fibromata. Blood vessels are few in num- 

 ber and may be absent. 



A soft fibroma is composed of small bundles or bands of 

 fibrous tissue loosely arranged. Cells and blood yessels are more 

 numerous than in hard fibromata. The general appearance of a 

 loose fibroma magnified one hundred diameters is very similar 



Fig 141. — .Soft Fibroma, showing wavy loosely arranged fibreo. 



to areolar tissue, except that in the former yellow elastic tissue 

 is absent, while in the latter it is present. All yariations in the 

 compactness of the fibrous tissue is found from the soft to the 

 hard fibroma. In fact some sections indicate that a soft fibroma 

 becomes a hard fibroma by an increase in the intercellular fibres. 

 Clinically, fibromata are innocent or benign tumors. Their 

 rate of growth is relatively slow. They may cause a fatal termin- 

 ation by mechanically obstructing tiie lumen of a hcllnw organ, 

 as the intestine, by pressure upon yital organs, as the brain, or 

 they may become so large that the aiTected animal is unable to 

 moye about in search of its food. Thus Kitt mentions a fibroma 



