Bone is dynamic and adaptable. It has been suggested that each region has an intrinsic hypothetical 'mechanostat' (Frost, 1987), although the histological basis has yet to be clearly defined. To gain further insight, the phenomenon of connection and disconnection is explored within the calcifying protist Spirostomum ambiguum, and at three key structural hierarchical tissue levels of the human skeleton; the cancellous bone network, the osteocyte network and the periosteal Sharpey's fibre arrays. The tissue used was from elderly subjects; cadaveric vertebral bodies, and femoral heads after hip replacement for osteoporosis (OP) and osteoarthritis (OA). Established 20 histological techniques were inappropriate for reliable characterisation of 30 networks. In consequence, two novel methods were developed and two unusual models adopted. These methods combined histological techniques with image analysis, for 30 mapping and quantification of trabecular disconnection (ReTm) in vertebral cancellous bone, and characterisation of the osteocyte and its cytoplasmic interconnections within the hip and spine. Model one, utilised the Ligamentum teres insertion site to examine the fibrillar arrays of collagen III-rich Sharpey's fibres, by hard tissue microtomy and cryomicrotomy. Model two, combined light and confocal microscopy to observe the elements of a musculoskeletal system present within S. ambiguum. ReTm were heterogeneously distributed, with the caudal and cranial regions being of interest. Sex differences were evident. Measurements of bone 'quality' appeared independent of bone 'quantity' (R2