Sentence:  As soon, namely, as a process of this sort sets in in a compound organ, as for example, a muscle, a palpable myo-<WSD>malacia</WSD> is certainly produced when all the muscular elements at a given point are at once affected; but it happens far more frequently that, in the course of a muscle, only a comparatively small number of primitive fasciculi are affected, whilst the others remain almost intact. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Abnormal softening of organs or tissues of the human body. (from 19th c.)