A text-book of anatomy / edited by Frederic Henry Gerrish.

Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A text-book of anatomy / edited by Frederic Henry Gerrish. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    56/926 (page 52)
    felting of white fibrous tissue, inibeikled in whieh are nests of cartilage-cells, as if the seeds of cartilage and those of connective tissue proper were sown together in the same field and developed in an intimate mixture. The physical proper- ties of the tissue are such as would be expected from such an association of ingredients—elasticity from one element, flexibility and toughness from the other. Yellow fibro-cartilage is called also clastic cadUagc and reticular (network) cartihic/c, for structural reasons which will presently be manifest. Its principal examples are the framework of the auricle and that of the epiglottis in the larynx. It is opaque and yellowish, and more elastic, flexible, and tough than hyaline cartilage. Viewed with the microscope, it is seen to consist of a close network of yellow fibrous tissue, containing scattered groups of true cartilage-cells (Fig. 40)—a composition which readily explains its physical qualities. As both the second and third varieties of cartilage have a fibrous tissue mingled with the true cartilage, FiG. 40.—Yellow fibro-cartilage. (Kolliker ) the names fibro-cartilage and fibrous cartilage tlo not dilferentiate one from the other. As all carti- lage is elastic, the name elastic cartilage is not clearly helpful in the designation of that containing yellow fibrous tissue; and reticular is no better as a title for the third variety than is fibrous for the second, since in each its fibrous tissue is arranged as a network. The names which aie given above are pre- ferred because they actually convey a correct idea of the structure of each form respectively. Osseous Tissue. The word osseous is derived from the Latin os, meaning a bone. Osseous tissue, therefore, is bony tissue, and it is the characteristic material in the bones. A bone is one of the numerous hard organs, which, taken together, make up the skeleton. One of the long bones of the limbs will show typically all of the features which we need for the study of osseous histology. A long bone has a central cylindrical portion, the shaft, and an expanded portion at each end. The parts of the extremities of the bone which present surfaces in movable joints are crusted over with a layer of cartilage, and the rest of the bone is covered with a fibrous and vascular membrane, called the perios- teum, meaning the structure around the bone. The fibrous part of the perios- teum makes it protective ; the vascular serves for the nourishment of the bone. If the bone is divided into halves by a vertical cut, its shaft is found to be hollow (Fig. 41). The open space is called the marroiv-cavity, and is lined by a fine, Fig. 41.—Vertical section of a long bone. (Testut.)