General Anatomy, Applied to Physiology and Medicine, Vol. 1 (of 3)Bichat, Xavier
Science
General Anatomy, Applied to Physiology and Medicine, Vol. 1 (of 3)
Bichat, Xavier
Human anatomy; Human physiology
The cellular texture, after having covered the organs, enters every
where into their intimate structure; it forms one of their principal
elements. In an apparatus, which is an assemblage of many systems,
each of these systems is united to the others by it; thus in the
stomach, the intestines, the bladder, &c. different layers which belong
to it separate the serous, muscular and mucous membranes of these
different hollow organs. In the lungs, between the serous surface
and the pulmonary parenchyma, between this and the divisions of the
bronchia, between them and their mucous surfaces, it offers a variety
of elongations more or less compact.
In the organized systems, the cellular texture at first accompanies
and surrounds, in their whole course, the vascular and nervous
branches which enter into their composition; then it unites together
the different homogeneous parts of each of them. Each fasciculus of a
muscle, every muscular fibre, every nervous filament, every portion of
aponeurosis and ligament, every glandular particle, &c. are surrounded
with a sheath, a particular cellular layer, which in relation to its
parts, is destined to the same uses that the greater covering of which
we have just spoken, performs for the whole organ. Thus the life of
each fibre is insulated by this layer, which, like that of the whole
organ, forms around it a kind of atmosphere, destined to defend and
protect it, but which can, however, like the general layer, and even
more than that, because the parts are nearer to each other, be the
means of the communication of diseases from one fibre to another. The
motion of each of these fibres is peculiarly favoured by the cellular
texture; thus the organs, which, like the muscles, have a very apparent
motion in each of their parts taken separately, are capable by means
of it of a much greater internal contraction, than those which, like
the tendons, the ligaments, and the glands, have no sensible motion but
that which is communicated to them.
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