Accurate knowledge of the process of epithelial repair in wounds is essential to a proper understanding of the clinical treatment of surfaces over which it is desirable to procure a covering of epithelium. In a recent histologic study of eighty-nine surgical wounds in all stages of healing in human beings, it was found that there are two distinct types of healing, epithelial and fibrous. Neither of these types falls directly into the existing descriptions of methods of tissue repair as taught in textbooks. As the two types of healing are distinct processes, and but little related to each other, they will be described separately. This paper will be confined to a description of the healing of epithelium, with clinical application of the observations.
An extensive review of the literature relating to epithelium in wounds and epithelium in tissue culture was made. Some basic facts concerning the potentialities of the individual