CHAPTER VI 



INDEX OF CICATRIZATION— INFLUENCE OF 



THE AGE OF THE PATIENT— INFLUENCE OF 



THE SIZE OF THE WOUND 



We have seen that the first part of the problem consisted in 

 finding a parameter remaining constant throughout the entire 

 phenomenon of cicatrization. Now the coefficient k^ constant 

 for a given wound, seemed to vary from one wound to another 

 and from one man to another. As, however, it characterized 

 the rate at which a certain wound healed, I replaced it by the 

 letter i and named it index of cicatrization. 



I naturally asked myself whether this index was solely 

 characteristic of each wound studied or whether it possessed 

 a more general and hidden significance. To solve this new 

 problem, I drew up a table in which were brought together 

 certain known elements corresponding to completed experi- 

 ments: index, dimension of the wound (area in cm.^), and age 

 of the patient. I had already observed that the yoiinger a man 

 was the quicker he cicatrized. It was therefore natural to try 

 to see whether the index did not, to a certain extent, depend 

 on the age of the man. The two following facts were soon 

 well established: 



I. — Small wounds cicatrized more rapidly in relative values 

 than large ones; their index was therefore higher than that of 

 larger wounds. 



2. — Wounds of the same area cicatrized more rapidly on a 

 young man than on an older man. The index i was therefore 

 a function of age as well as of the area of the wound. 



These observations were of interest because the importance 

 of the index would be much increased if it could be proved 

 that it was not an individual factor but depended, on the con- 

 trary, on general factors such as the area of the wound and the 

 age of the patient. If it had been a function of the state of 



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