50 



THE GROWTH OF BONE 



brought about a long period of uncertainty. Borde- 

 nave (1756) found reasons for supporting Haller ; 

 and Fougeroux (1760) supported du Hamel. Thus 

 men came to study the whole subject with more 

 accuracy — the growth in length, as well as the 

 growth in thickness ; the medullary cavity, the 

 development of bone, the nutrition and absorption 

 of bone. Among those who took up the work were 

 Bichat, Hunter, Troja, and Cruveilhier ; and they 

 recognised the surgical aspect of these researches 

 in physiology. After them, the periosteal growth 

 of bone became, as it were, a part of the principles 

 of surgery. From this point of view of practice, 

 issued the experiments made by Syme (1837) and 

 Stanley (1849) : which proved the importance of 

 the epiphysial cartilages for the growth of the bones 

 in length, and the risk of interfering with these 

 cartilages in operations on the joints of children. 

 Finally, with the rise of anaesthetics and of the 

 antiseptic method, came the work of Oilier, of Lyon, 

 whose good influence on the treatment of these 

 cases can hardly be overestimated. 



