Wyman on the Cancelli of Bones. 125 
Arr: XI.— On the Cancellated Structure of some of the 
Bones of the Human Body. By Jerrrizs Wyman, M. D. 
(Communicated November 7th, 1849.) 
Wiru the exception of the great work of Bourgery and 
Jacob, Traité Complète de Anatomie de l'Homme, and the 
excellent and instructive Outlines of Human Osteology, by 
F.O. Ward, nearly all systematic treatises are deficient in 
descriptions of the mechanical arrangement of the cancellated 
structure of bones. The student will look in vain through 
the works of Cruvielhier, Meckel, Bichat, Von Behr, Weber, 
Soemmering, and Wilson, for any allusion to the manner in 
which the cancelli are arranged, with reference to the weight 
which they sustain, and the distribution of that weight to the 
parts on which they rest. The whole subject is passed by 
without any other notice than that which would be naturally 
suggested in describing the “spongy,” “ reticulated,” or ** can- 
cellated structure," in contrast with the more dense “‘ compact 
substance," forming the external walls and crust of the different 
bones. This is the more remarkable, when it is remembered 
that the bones have been so perseveringly studied, not only as 
regards their external characters, but as to their microscopic 
structure and chemical composition. 
Sir Charles Bell, in his Treatise on Animal Mechanics,! 
alludes to the direction of the cancelli in the neck of the thigh 
bone, but his description will be found, on comparison, to be 
inaccurate. Mr. Quain, in the last edition of his Anatomy;? 
in referring to the cancellated structure of bones, states cor- 
rectly the general principle according to which these fibres 
are arranged. “It may be usually observed," he says, “ that 
1 Animal Mechanics, or Proofs of Design in the Animal Frame. Published by t the 
Society for the Diffusion of Useful 
; Homsa Asátory, by Jones Quain, M. D. Edited by Richard Quain, F. R. S., 
LAC Sharpey, M. y. Hs - S. Firs — KANIE: Edited by Joseph 
Philadelphia 
DEC. 1849. 
