DIGESTION OF BONE BY LARVAE OF PHORMIA REGINA

Abstract

The use of living maggots as a therapeutic measure in osteomyelitis was introduced¹ by Baer in 1929. He found that this treatment brought about early complete healing of infections of the bone that had been resistant to other forms of accepted therapy. The cause of this rapid healing was debated by Baer, but remained an unsolved problem in his mind. He felt that the end-results were possibly due to the ingestion of dead tissue by the maggots or to the liberation of an enzyme. He mentioned the possibility of extracting some active substance or enzyme the use of which might replace the application of living maggots to wounds. Unfortunately, he was unable to investigate these problems, and a continuation of his work would seem to be well worthy of consideration. Since this subject entails numerous problems requiring various steps of investigation, it was felt that a study on larval