To orthopaedic surgeons he is famous for his studies on bone and cartilage. In 1743 he published the paper "On the structure and diseases of articulating cartilages" – which is often cited – especially the following sentence: "If we consult the standard Chirurgical Writers from Hippocrates down to the present Age, we shall find, that an ulcerated Cartilage is universally allowed to be a very troublesome Disease; that it admits of a Cure with more Difficulty than carious Bone; and that, when destroyed, it is not recovered".