Sea. VII. 
BurSjE Mucosje of the Human Body. 
25 
of it projeaing into the burfa, behind the ligament which ties the patella to the 
tibia (^). 
7. The liquor which lubricates the burfae has the fame colour, confiftcnce, 
and properties, as that of the joints ; and both, as I have found by experi- 
ment, are affeaed in the fame manner by heat, mineral acids, and ardent 
fpirits (»). 
8. In fome places the burfae conftantly communicate with the cavities of the 
joints (x) ; in others they generally do fo : From which we may infer a fame^ 
nefs of ftruaure. 
9. To render the famenefs of the ftruaure of the burfae and capfular liga- 
ments ftill more evident, I (hall next minutely defcribe the appearance of the 
feveral organs which may be fuppofed to furnifli the lubricating liquor, which, 
in the joints, has been called Jynovla; and I fhall be the more particular, be- 
caulc thele parts have been generally very erroneouUy delcribed, efpecially by 
late writers, and that no author has yet examined them with fufficient ac- 
curacy. 
O I SHALL 
(t) See Tab. III. d. and Tab. IV. M. N. 
(m) Immediately after an ox was killed, I opened the joints and large burfae of the legs, and col- 
leded the liquors they contained. 
Thefe were fimilar to each other in colour, finell, talle, confidence, and weight j and gave the fame 
degree of flipperinefs when rubbed between the thumb and finger. 
When mixed with oil of vitriol, diluted with double its weight of water, both liquors became demi- 
opake, but were not coagulated. 
When two parts of thefe liquors were mixed with three parts of redified fpirit of wine, a portion, 
weighing nearly one-eighth part of the whole, was coagulated. 
When thefe liquors were brought to a boiling heat, they became lefs pellucid and more vifeid ; but 
the quantity of matter which clotted was very inconfiderable. 
When evaporated to drynefs, they produced a tough cruft, which weighed a fmall part only of 
the whole, and burnt in the flame of a candle nearly as a thin flice of horn does. 
(x) See Tab. I. D. — Tab.III. Z. a.— Tab.V. g. h. 1. 
