Se£l.VL 
BuRSiE Mucosa OF THE HuMAN BoDY. 
2 ^ 
fatty bodies but that of furniftiing an oily matter for the purpofe of lubrica- 
ting, I cannot fee good grounds for doubting that the oil exudes front its fol- 
licles through invifible palTages into the cavities of the abdomen, joints, and 
burfae- 
We next proceed to examine the nature of the fringes Or fimbriae, which we 
obferve common to the fatty bodies of the joints and burfae. Thefe have beeii 
very generally fuppofed to be the duds of glands lodged within and proteded 
by the mafies of fat (^). Yet^ notwithftanding the appearance of accuracy in 
the defcription given of thefe glands, and the probability that thefe fringes are 
derived from fome fuch origin, and that fuch bulky mafies of fat as are found 
in the knee and in the burfa immediately under it, feem, at firft fight, to be 
otherwife ufelefs, I have not been able to difcover the fmalleft vefiige of any 
knotty, granulous, or glandular body lodged within thefe fatty malTes in the 
joints of man or other animals. Nay, although we obferve fo many blood- 
veflels difperfed upon the membranes of thefe fatty bodies and upon the fim- 
briae, and that we cannot doubt that thefe fimbriae confift of duds which con- 
tain a lubricating liquor, and that in fad when we prefs upon them we are 
fenfible that it ifiues from them; yet their cavities and orifices are fo minute, 
H that 
(^) Havers, Oft. Nov. 1691. p. 19I. Glandulae mucilaginofce are red, pappy, &c. Cowper, Expl. 
ofBidloo,Tab.79. E.E. Mucilaginous glands of the knee. The duds of thefe glands form a fringe, &-c. 
‘Morgagni, Adv. II. Illud de ftrudura earundem conglomeratarum ex Cowperi anatomia poteris 
addere, &c. Winflow, Exp. An. 1732. S. 2. 68. Glandes mucilagineufes font grenues, &c. en forme 
de grains. — 184. Sont entrelardees d’une matiere graifleufe — 186. On diftingue facilement la fubftance 
glanduleufe d’avec I’adipeufe, &c. ^J. Weitbrecht, in Syndefmolog. calls thefe mafles Adipofo- 
glandulofas. Chefelden, 1740, p. 48. Thefe'glands are feated in fat. — ^ — Haller, El. Phyf. T. II. 
p. 366. Ex pinguibus globis, quae in de articulationibus pariter ut glandulae reperiuntur. Plenck, 
Pr. Lin. Anat. 1775, P* 97 * Glandulae articulares. Sunt parvae glandulae, &c.—p. 309^ Glandule 
fynoviales, &c. Leber, Pr. Anat. 1778* P-I12. Conftat fynovia e mucilaginofo liquore glandula- 
rum articularium. Sabatier, Tr.d’Anat. 1780. T. I. p. 9. Les glandes fynoviales font logees au 
r ' * 
milieu de mafles graifleufes et rougeatres, &c. — Leurs canaux excretenrs reprefentent des efpeces de 
frahges, &c. 
