The vital lubricant of which we have before spoken

The vital lubricant of which we have before spoken

The vital lubricant of which we have before spoken

The universal need which pertains to all mechanical contrivances of motion has not been forgotten while providing for the perfect working of the interesting piece of living machinery which performs the function of locomotion, as we are contemplating it, and nature has consequently provided for obviating the evils of attrition and friction and insuring the easy play and smooth movement of its parts by the establishment of the secretion of the synovia, the vital lubricant of which we have before spoken, as a yellow, oily, or rather glairy secretion, which performs the indispensable office of facilitating the play of the tendons over the joints and certain given points of the bones. This fluid is deposited in a containing sac, the lining (serous) membrane of which forms the secreting organ. This membrane is of an excessively sensitive nature, and while it lines the inner face of the ligaments, both capsular and fascicular, it is attached only upon the edges of the bones, without extending upon their length, or between the layers of cartilage which lie between the bones and their articular surfaces.