A New Theory Concerning the Influence of Mechanical Stimuli on the Differentiation of the Supporting Tissues

Without doubt the blasteme of the tissues of the supporting apparatus is plurivalent, that is to say, it is able to develop into bony tissue equally well as into connective tissue or cartilage. Thus, during the fracture healing process we see, for example, that the secondary mesenchyme, originating from all the locality of the fracture, does not give rise only to connective tissue or to bony callus but also to cartilage tissue, even when it occurs in bones which do not originate in cartilage. It also appears clearly from observations that the differentiation of the blasteme in the fracture site is controlled by mechanical stimuli in one way or another and that finally the mechanical demands of the construction are decisive for the development and the localization of the different supporting tissues. Petersen (1926) has already brought attention to this.