058 MORBID ANATOMY.
its size, and was still somewhat elastic ; being 8 in. by nearly 5 in. in diameter, and in circumference 13 in. Its weight, after removal, was about 21 oz. The integuments were thickened from inflammation ; with a foul ulcer nearly 2 in. in diameter, in the situation of the nail ; and a slough, midway, 1 in. in diameter, and an inch deep ; the pain being urgent enough to keep the patient awake.
Having been removed with the metacarpal bone, a single longitudinal section was made through the mass, and ex- posed an almost uniform, translucent, bluish-white tissue, minutely and irregularly divided into lobules, averaging in size a split pea, and each invested by a distinct fibrous tissue. The mass varied, as to density, in different parts ; being greatest toward the centre, where there were some cartilaginous-looking lobules, with considerable traces of the cancellar structure of the first phalanx. Toward the extremity, the structure was gelatiniform and more vascu- lar, though still lobulated ; the same soft lobules being interspersed throughout the whole tumor. The skin and a thin layer of cellular membrane invested the mass, and could be readily separated from it ; all trace of the origi- nal structures within having disappeared, excepting an extensor tendon, and the remains of bone above referred to. At the time of the operation, one quite defined lobe was found to extend into the ball of the thumb. Metacar- pal bone healthy, though imbedded for one-half its length in the overlying tumor ; anteriorly covered by healthy cartilage ; and, the synovial membrane being reflected over the corresponding surface of the tumor, a proper articular cavity still remained. Upon the back of the thumb one of the extensor tendons was to some extent deeply imbed- ded in the tumor, but was afterward inserted by a broad and very thin expansion in a mass that appeared to repre- sent the last phalanx.
Microscopically, the soft parts showed cells from one to two thousandths of an inch in diameter, and containing one or more nuclei, with considerable granular matter. In these parts a structureless or fibrous tissue was found, in which naked nuclei were imbedded, and interspersed with the above cells. The cartilaginous-looking portions showed
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