mucous (mukus)

[= F. muqueux = Sp. mucoso, mocoso = Pg. It. mucoso, L. mucosus, slimy, mucus, slime, mucus: see mucus.] 1. Pertaining to mucus or resembling it; slimy, ropy, and lubricous.-2. Secreting a slimy substance; pituitary: as, the mucous membrane. - Mucous canals, in ichth. See the quotation. In most, if not all, fishes the integument of the body and of the head contains a series of sacs, or canals, usually dis posed symmetrically on each side of the middle line, and filled with a clear gelatinous substance. These sensory organs are known as the "organs of the lateral line," or mucous canals. Huxley, Anat. Vert., p. 79. Mucous fever, fish, glands, ligament. See the nouns. - Mucous layer. See mesoblast. —Mucous membrane. See membrane. -Mucous ti ue, gelatinous connective ti ue. The cells may be round, branching, or fusiform, and the intercellular substance is of jelly-like consistence and contains mucin. Mucous ti ue forms the chief bulk of the navel-string, or umbilical cord, in which case it is called the jelly of Wharton. The vitreous humor of the eye also consists mainly of this ti ue.