Fig 7. W3240, Mesentery, FeCl3-hematoxylin. Loose
connective tissue is characterized by loosely arranged fibers
and abundant cells as compared to the dense connective
tissue. The ground substance occupies more volume than the
fibers do. This slide depicts a whole mount (wm) of
mesentery through it's entire thickness. The semifluid ground
substance through which tissue fluid percolates is invisible,
since it was extracted during the preparation of the slide.
However, two types of fibers: the thicker, wavy, ribbon-like
collagen fibers and the thin, straight, branching elastic
fibers (EF) are well demonstrated. The mast cells (M) are
easily to be identified, since they are the largest cells in the
field and posses a granular cytoplasm. Nuclei of other cell
types, i.e., lymphocytes, plasma cells, and macrophages, are
also present but are not identifiable.