Osteoma Cutis

OSSIFYING processes in the skin, either primary (neoplasia) or secondary (metaplasia), are rare occurrences. The discovery of bone formation in the skin is even rarer than its occurrence, and, consequently, reports of the phenomenon are rarest of all. Ossification in other extraskeletal sites, aside from in the skin, is not too uncommon. Year after year there are several reports of bone deposit in organs like the kidneys and musculature. Prior to 1928 Hopkins1could find only about 5 cases, beginning with Virchow's case and including his own, of osteomas in the skin. Since then, i. e., in the past twenty years, I have been able to discover only seven more reports of the condition.2There must be a few cases that have not been recorded in the periodical literature, like that of Andrews, who in his textbook3cited an instance in which he was able to demonstrate