Veterinary Histology and Embryology

GROUND SUBSTANCE

• It appears homogenous in fresh condition or in ordinary preparations.
• Only the walls of the lacunae stand out as mere refractive rings intensely staining with basic dyes. These rings are called capsules.
• These are not of the nature of cell membranes but represent considerations of the matrix surrounding the cells. 
• The ground substance or matrix masks the fine collagenous fibres, which are present in the apparently homogenous intercellular substance because both have the same refractive index.
• The ground substance is strongly metachromatic with toluidine blue and is slightly basophilic but the superichondrial layer is acidophilic.