Structure of Bones

Bones consist chiefly of bone tissue, but considered as organs they present also an enveloping membrane, termed the periosteum, the medulla or marrow, vessels, and nerves.

The architecture of bone can be studied best by means of longitudinal and cross-sections. These show that the bone consists of an external shell of dense compact substance, within which is the more loosely arranged spongy substance. In typical long bones the shaft is hollowed to form the medullary cavity (Cavum medullare).

The compact substance (Substantia compacta) differs greatly in thickness in various situations, in conformity with the stresses and strains to which the bone is subjected. In the long bones it is thickest in the middle part of the shaft and thins out toward the extremities. On the latter the layer is very thin, and is especially dense and smooth on joint surfaces.

The spongy substance (Substantia spongiosa) consists of delicate bony plates and spicules which run in various directions and intercross. These plates are definitely arranged with regard to mechanical requirements, so that systems of pressure and tension plates can be recognized, in conformity with the lines of pressure and the pull of tendons and ligaments respectively. The intervals (marrow spaces) between the plates are occupied by marrow. The spongy substance forms the bulk of short bones and of the extremities of long bones; in the latter it is not confined to the ends, but extends a variable distance along the shaft also. Some bones (Ossa pneumatica) contain air-spaces or sinuses within the compact substance instead of spongy bone and marrow. In certain situations the two compact layers of flat bones are not separated by spongy bone, but fuse with each other; in some cases of this kind the bone is so thin as to be translucent, or may even undergo absorption, producing an actual deficiency.

The flat bones of the cranial vault and sides are composed of an outer layer of ordinary compact substance, an inner layer of very dense bone, the tabula vitrea, and between these a variable amount of spongy bone, here termed diploë.

The periosteum is the membrane which invests the outer surface of bone, except where it is covered with cartilage. It consists of an outer protective fibrous layer, and an inner cellular osteogenic layer. During active growth the osteogenic layer is well developed, but later it becomes much reduced. The fibrous layer varies much in thickness, being in general thickest in exposed situations. The adhesion of the periosteum to the bone also differs greatly in various places; it is usually very thin and easily detached where it is thickly covered with muscular tissue which has little or no attachment. The degree of vascularity conforms to the activity of the periosteum.

The marrow (Medulla ossium) occupies the interstices of the spongy bone and the medullary cavity of the long bones. There are two varieties in the adult—red and yellow. In the young subject there is only red marrow (Medulla ossium rubra), but later this is replaced in the medullary cavity by yellow marrow (Medulla ossium flava). The red marrow contains several types of characteristic cells and is a blood-forming substance, while the yellow is practically ordinary adipose tissue.

Since yellow marrow is formed by regressive changes in red marrow, including fatty infiltration and degeneration of the characteristic cells, we find transitional forms or stages in the process. In aged or badly nourished subjects the marrow may undergo gelatinous degeneration, resulting in the formation of gelatinous marrow.

Vessels and Nerves.—It is customary to recognize two sets of arteries—the periosteal and the medullary. The former ramify in the periosteum and give off innumerable small branches which enter minute openings (Volkmann’s canals) on the surface and reach the Haversian canals of the compact substance. Other branches enter the extremities of the long bones and supply the spongy bone and marrow in them. In the case of the larger bones—and especially the long bones—the large medullary or nutrient artery enters at the so-called nutrient foramen (Foramen nutricium), passes in a canal (Canalis nutricius) through the compact substance, and ramifies in the marrow; its branches anastomose with the central branches of the periosteal set. The larger veins of the spongy bone do not, as a rule, accompany the arteries, but emerge chiefly near the articular surfaces. Within the bone they are destitute of valves.

The lymph vessels form perivascular channels in the periosteum and the Haversian canals of the compact substance. Lymph-spaces exist at the periphery of the marrow.

The nerves appear to be distributed chiefly to the blood-vessels. Special nerve-endings (Vater-Pacini corpuscles) in the periosteum are to be regarded as sensory, and probably are concerned in mediating the muscle sense (Kopsch).