On Rickets 311 



pillar will therefore be inclined to the left, as is seen 

 in the same figure. But if the pillar is made of 

 many stones, and a wedge is inserted, as described, 

 between every pair of them, the stones will not have 

 the form of a pillar but of a portion of an arc, as may 

 be seen in Fig. 3. 



'' To accommodate this to the present question, if the 

 said bones are more fully nourished on one side and 

 therefore grow more on that side than on the 

 opposite, it must necessarily follow that they will on 

 that very account curve, for the fuller nutrition of 

 that side brings about the curvature of the bone in 

 the same way as the wedge driven in brings about 

 the curvature of the pillar, except that while a wedge 

 is driven in at certain points only of the side of the 

 pillar, the fuller nutrition affects the side of the bone 

 nearly equally along its whole length, and it is on 

 account of this uniform nutrition that the inclination 

 of the bone produces an exact segment of a circle 

 without any angles." 



According to this hypothesis, viz., that one side 

 is more fully nourished, the learned author by his 

 ingenious comment demonstrates the curvature of the 

 bones. But with all respect for such a man we may 

 ask, whence comes it that one side should have that 

 fuller nutrition when the blood by which the bones 

 are nourished is in this disease, no less than in healthy 

 persons, equally distributed ? And if there were any 

 such inequality, a fuller supply of aliment might be 

 supposed in the posterior side of the tibia, as that is 

 less exposed to cold, and so softer ; and thus the 

 posterior would be the elongated and convex side of 

 the curved tibia, and the anterior the concave ; but 

 the opposite is the case, for in this disease the tibia 

 is prominent in front. 



