The nodules or
"adventitious joints" were the result of imperfect ossification,
or, in other words, of motion before ossification was completed.
Analogous to rachitis is achondroplasia, or the so called fetal
rickets--a disease in which deformity results from an arrest,
absence, or perversion of the normal process of enchondral
ossification. It is decidedly an intrauterine affection, and the
great majority of fetuses die in utero. Thomson reports three
living cases of achondroplasia. The first was a child five months
of age, of pale complexion, bright and intelligent, its head
measuring 23 inches in length. There was a narrow thorax showing
the distinct beads of rickets; the upper and lower limbs were
very short, but improved under antirachitic treatment. The child
died of pneumonia. The other two cases were in adults, one
thirty-nine and the other thirty-six. The men were the same
height, 49 inches, and resembled each other in all particulars.
They both enjoyed good health, and, though somewhat dwarfed, were
of considerable intelligence. Neither had married. Both the upper
and; lower limbs showed exaggerations of the normal curves; the
hands and feet were broad and short; the gait of both of these
little men was waddling, the hunk swaying when they attempted to
make any rapid progress.
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