This study of experimentally produced scoliosis may justify the following conclusions:
1. Scoliosis can be produced experimentally in laboratory rats and mice by the selective release of mechanical action of different muscle groups on the vertebral column.
2. A satisfactory degree of control can be maintained to allow the prediction of the type of curve to be produced.
3. Selective muscle imbalance can be produced without muscle excision by the use of inert material to prevent muscle reattachment; this imbalance will produce lateral curvature.
4. Muscle excision and release which did not produce imbalance resulted in no scoliosis in the animals studied.