Autofluorescence of bone tissues.

The phenomenen of autofluorescence of bone is due primarily to the collagen itself rather than to incidental substances adsorbed on to it. Fluorescent microscopy is a convenient method of dating the different microanatomical components of bone, and in this respect the same conclusions can be reached from the study of microradiographs or autofluorescent photographs, which is proof of the intimate relation between the development of matrix and the progression of mineralization.