Page:A treatise on diseases of the bones (electronic resource) (IA b21289013).pdf/37

 PART I.

CHAPTER I.

HYPERTROPHY AND ATROPHY OF BONE.

Yue changes which occur in bone from hypertrophy and atrophy are remarkable in respect to the close connexion they establish between the vital actions in bone and those in the softer tissues. But there is a higher interest in the history of hypertrophy and atrophy of bone, from the practical questions involved in the phenomena to which they give rise.

HYPERTROPHY OF BONE.

This condition of bone consists in an increase of its size from the augmentation of its healthy tissue. Long bones are often thus increased in thickness, but rarely in length. I have, however, seen instances of long bones hypertrophied in their length. In the muscum of the university of Bonn I saw the skeleton of a young female, in which the tibia and fibula are hypertrophied in thickness, and in its length to the extent of three inches. When a bone 1s hypertrophied only in its length, it may �