PLASTIC SURGERY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 7 (Supplement)

PLASTIC SURGERY

REMODELLING OF FLESH

The surgeons of to-day have become very skilful in remodellins or restoring parts of the body which have been damaged by accident or disease. The work is of course most frequently needed when the head and face have been affected.

It is remarkable what the surgeon can do. When the inflammations due to injury and infections have subsided and the general health is restored, then the surgeon can gradually transfer skin

and tissue from other parts of the body and reconstruct the damaged area. Skin from the flank will look quite well upon the face, and a cartilage from a rib will give substance to a new ear.

But contrary to the common ideas on tbe subject, it seems to be impossible to graft tissue from one individual to another.

Although something of the kind was recently claimed when the cornea of one person was used to replace that on another, it seems on the whole that individuality is too strong to allow of this. Even the flesh of another of the same species is regarded as " foreign," and must die and be absorbed, though it may serve as a temporary scaffold for the regeneration of the person's own tissue.