In the task of restoring loss of bone substance and function in the wide variety of traumatisms resulting from the war, the plastic surgeon is confronted with a correspondingly varied array of mechanical problems. The recognition of the underlying biologic and physiologic significance of tissue growth and metabolism is a fundamental requirement in the successful treatment of these cases. The surgical repair of bone, and more particularly the use of the bone graft in cases of pseudarthrosis with or without bone loss, is based not only on the ultimate establishment of adequate fixation of the bone fragments, but also on the attainment of a proper environment for the nourishment of the graft. This entails the exact coaptation of parts of the graft to respective parts of the host bone; in other words, the adequate and extensive contact of all four corresponding bone layers, namely, periosteum, cortex, endosteum and marrow. MECHANICAL