The Law of Bone Remodelling

The present work aims at establishing as exhaustively as possible the math­ ematical, anatomical and clinical bases of the law of bone remodelling and the consequent functional bone shape and remodelling force. Another aim of this work consists of considering the applications of the law of bone re­ modelling not only to bone but also to many other fields of medical science and to certain questions in the natural sciences. I am indebted to the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, whose help made the publication of this book possible. I would also like to thank the many scientists who kindly put at my disposal valuable specimens from their collections to enable me to study the law of bone remodelling: Prof. Ackermann, Halle, von Berg­ mann, Berlin, Billroth, Vienna, H. Fischer, Breslau, Prosector Dr. Frankel, Hamburg, Prof. Hasse, Breslau, Koenig, Gottingen, Koester, Bonn, late von Linhart, Wiirzburg, late Lucae, Frankfurt a. M. , Mihalkowitsch, Bu­ dapest, Rindfleisch, Wiirzburg, Roux, Innsbruck, late Dr. Theodor Simon, Hamburg, Prof. R. Virchow, Berlin, late Richard von Volkmann, Halle, Weigert, Frankfurt a. M. , and Zenker, Erlangen. Julius Wolff Contents 1 Chapter I Concept of the Law of Bone Remodelling Chapter II The Internal Architecture of Normal Bone and Its Mathematical Significance 3 1 Historical . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 The Internal Architecture of the Proximal End of the Human Femur 7 2. 1 Architecture of the Coronal Section 8 2. 2 Architecture of the Sagittal Section Sawn from the Centre of the Bone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .