[From Fernehs Universa Medicina, Geneva, r67g.l

BOOKSXELF BROWSING STUDIES IN PALEOPATHOLOGY, XXVII

A SUGGESTION OF RICKETS IN THE PLEISTOCENE

ROY L. MOODIE, PH.D.

SANTA MONICA, CALIF.

C OMMENTS on the earIy evidences of rickets in ancient times reveaI the fact that the disease is utterly

unknown among the thousands of fossil vertebrates which have been studied by a great number of schoIars. It is we11 known, however, that this disease occurs among many recent and especiaIIy among the domesticated mammals and birds. P. C. SchmerIing has suggested this disease as the expIanation of the appearence of cer- tain bones of a PIeistocene bear found in Belgium and Poncet has described and figured a set of Iimb bones representing an ape, mummified, from early Egypt, which are undoubted exampIes of rickets. F.Wood Jones and G. EIIiot Smith in their extended, proIonged search for rickets among the earIy Nubians and ancient Egyptians found not one of the cardina1 signs of the bony manifestations of rickets. Extensive search, by roentgenograms of a Iarge series of pre-Columbian mummies from Peru, has yieIded no singIe case of rachitic deformation, aIthough numerous chiIdren were examined, nor has there been a definite exampIe of this disease seen in the osteoIogi- ca1 coIIections of ancient races.

This dearth of definite evidences of the presence of rickets in ancient times has

caused me to hesitate a Iong time over the presentation of the evidence, in the giant PIeistocene wolf, (Aenocyon dims) of the Ranch0 Ia Brea, of what seems to be a rachitic bone represented by a Ieft, aduIt femur.

The bone is shown in the middIe figure and it presents a uniform, definite arc which invoIves the entire Iength of the bone. It is quite possibIe that this isoIated bone is an extreme variant of the curvature seen in other woIf femora, as shown in the figure. Most of the woIf femora present a sIight curvature, but this is usuaIIy re- stricted to one part of the shaft. Many femora are straight.

This woIf femur has a Iength of 223 mm., as compared to a Iength of 250 mm., for the bone shown on the Ieft, and 240 mm., for the one on the right. There are, however, many woIf femora, apparentIy aduIt, which measure Iess than 223 mm. The maximum is about 270 mm. It is thus clear that the rachitic (?) femur is in the Iower range of dimensions. This suggests nutritiona disturbances.

The femur in question is badIy pit-worn. “Pit-wear” is due to a proIonged rubbing of bone on bone through centuries of shift-

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NEW SERIES VOL.. X, No. I Moodie-Rickets in the PIeistocene American Jo~rd of Surgery 163

ings in the viscid material by great gas The Iimb bone of a smaI1 hawk, from the bubbIes pushing their way up the “chim- Ranch0 Ia Brea, shows simiIar manifesta- ney.” For some time I thought the extreme tions of rickets, so it may be that this

FIG. I. Three PIeistocene wolf femora, Ranch0 Ia Brea.

Left: Left r-.olf femur, measuring 250 mm. in Iength with angIe of torsion of IO’, showing a moderate degree of curvature, IargeIy restricted to lower half of bone.

Middle: The rachitic (?) bone, a Ieft femur of Pleistocene woIf, measuring 223 mm. in length and presenting definite diaphysea1 curvature invoIving entire bone.

Rigbt: A right, aduIt, woIf femur, 240 mm. in Iength, showing sIight curvature of Iower one-half.

(AI1 specimens in the Los Angeles Museum.)

curvature might have been due to pressure disease actuaIIy did occur in the PIeisto- of overlying bones, but there is nothing to cene, though the evidences so far seen are indicate that this reaIIy happened. not entirely satisfactory.