The word "osteomyelitis," employed to designate the suppuration of bone after war wounds, seems to me incorrect; we should reserve this name for the very definite disease which we see in civil practice, and designate simply as "bone fistulas," the chronic suppurations of the bones resulting from a war wound.
The term osteomyelitis implies in itself an early treatment consisting in the incision of the periosteum, followed by the trephining of the bone, and the opening of a seat of infection to prevent its propagation; in the wounds of war, all this operation has been done by the projectile, and what one is to treat is a localized lesion with characteristics entirely different from those of true osteomyelitis. The term "bone fistula" is more proper to designate this obstinate lesion, which more resembles an infirmity than a disease.
Granted that the lesions of bone following war wounds are not the