large folds as already described. We have more convincing illustration of the same fact in the second appearance of the swelling. of the swelling. It was not circumscribed as at first, but extended over the head and face.

I have seen one case similar to that recorded by Mr. Earle in the last volume of the Transactions. The tumor was in the same situation, and had been twice punctured. The event of the disease has not yet been ascertained.

Glocester, Feb. 28, 1817.

OBSERVATIONS

ON THE

MORBID STRUCTURE

OF

BONES,

AND

ATTEMPT AT AN ARRANGEMENT

OF THEIR

DISEASES.

BY JOHN HOWSHIP, Esq.

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN LONDON; AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SOCIETE' MEDICALE D'E'MULATION, IN PARIS.

Read Dec. 10, 1816.

THE object of my former inquiry was to ascertain the particular instruments, by means of which the animal economy is enabled to produce the successive changes that take place in the texture and appearance of bones, during the period of growth; and also to determine precisely their minute structure in that stage of life, when, from having ceased to grow, they may be considered as being completely formed.

In my former experiments I endeavoured to de

See Med. Chir. Trans. Vol. VI. and VII.

monstrate several new facts, relating to the organization and economy of healthy bone; which facts will, I trust, throw some additional light upon this very beautiful, although exceedingly intricate department of anatomy. I now propose to continue the investigation, by the examination of the appearances and structure of bone under the influence of disease.

It is, however, with extreme diffidence that I undertake this task, feeling as I do my inadequacy to so extended a research, and aware that however earnest may be my desire to promote the advancement of our knowledge in pathology, the exertions of a single individual can but rarely prove of any considerable value, unless they are happily assisted by many fortuitous circumstances.

With the exception of some few works, little information, as far as my reading extends, is to be met with in books upon the diseases of bones; for most of those professedly written upon this subject are almost exclusively confined to the consideration of fractures and dislocations, which, strictly speaking, are the consequences of accident, and not of disease.

The only individual who seems to me to have studied this branch of surgery profoundly, was the late Mr. Hunter, who, with his characteristic penetration and singularly happy genius, has arranged

the affections of bones according to their appear

ances.

From Mr. Hunter's writings, and particularly from his lectures, it is evident that he was much more intimately acquainted with the principles of diseased action in bones, than any author who has yet attended to the subject. But even this great man frankly acknowledges himself at a loss how to explain some of those changes that bone undergoes in disease; although, had he applied the powers of which he was master to a more particular inquiry into the early stages of evolution and growth, there can be little doubt but that he would have been enabled to unravel with facility, most of those points which even to him remained inexplicable.

The imperfect state of our knowledge as to the diseases of the bones, has arisen partly from the subject, necessarily obscure, having been treated with neglect. The study of minute anatomy was never prosecuted with so much ardour as it is in the present day; neither were the advances of physiological improvement at any former period so rapid, as at the present moment. Independent of which considerations, it is most true, that in no department of anatomy is the assistance of the microscope so important and even indispensable, as in the unfolding the minute organization of bone; and the want of confidence that some have thought

proper to express with regard to investigations of this nature, must by every thinking person be attributed to a deficient knowledge of the most obvious principles of optics, rather than to any imperfection in the instrument employed.

In the attention hitherto devoted to this subject, I have enjoyed very considerable advantages in having recourse to one of the most valuable and most extensive collections of diseased bones, of any in this country; and it affords me singular pleasure to acknowledge upon this occasion, the kindness and friendship of Mr. Heaviside, who, with a spirit of liberality that always distinguishes the true friends of scientific research, has not only allowed me constant access to the above collection, but has also given me permission to remove, for more particular examination, such parts of any of the preparations as might appear to be essential to the success of the inquiry.

But notwithstanding these and other facilities, the endless diversity that occurs in the appearance of the same disease under different circumstances of age and constitution, as well as the occasional impossibility of making out the precise progress of symptoms, must still be regarded as unavoidable difficulties, which can be surmounted only by time and activity*.

*I shall feel myself particularly obliged to any gentlemen, who may have it in their power to assist me, by the favour of

any