  Preliminary results based on a large compilation of line-strength profiles
are presented and discussed. Elliptical galaxies (Es) with strong central
Mg$_2$ show steeper line-strength gradients. These galaxies are more massive
and have higher velocity dispersions, note nevertheless, that the Mg$_2$
gradient correlates better with central Mg$_2$ than with any other global or
structural parameter. This correlation, and the fact that Mg$_2$ measures
$Z/Z_\odot$ together with the [Mg/Fe] abundances among Es, are of extreme
importance for the use of the central Mg$_2-\sigma$ relation as a reflection of
a mass-metallicity relation. Spectroscopic gradients arise mainly from a radial
decrease in mean stellar metallicity. However, the Mg$_2$ and $<{\rm Fe}>$
gradients do not correlate within measuring errors, indicating that something
else, besides metallicity, is also varying within a galaxy. H$\beta$ gradients
indicate that the centers of Es tend to look spectroscopically ``younger'' than
their stellar populations further out.
