What connective tissue is

Every other tissue in this chapter is mostly cells. Connective tissue is mostly the stuff between the cells.

Figure to be added

Figure 1.16 — a human arm with four connective tissues shown as circular micrographs: loose connective tissue from just under the skin, bone with its concentric rings, cartilage with rounded cells in a pale matrix, and blood with red cells in fluid.

The characteristics

Connective tissue consists of several kinds of cell and of fibres.
These cells and fibres are embedded in a large matrix.
Most connective tissues have a nerve supply and a blood supply.

The matrix

The material the cells and fibres are sunk in. It is what makes a connective tissue what it is: hard in bone, rubbery in cartilage, liquid in blood. The cells in all three are far apart, and the matrix fills the space between them.

The function of connective tissue

Maintaining the connection between the various tissues and organs of the body. It also provides support.

The matrix does the work, not the cells

A bone is strong because of what its cells secreted, not because the cells themselves are strong; blood flows because its matrix is liquid. This is the one tissue type in the chapter where asking what the cells look like is the wrong first question. Ask what they are sitting in.