The purpose of this study was to gain information which might be helpful in understanding the influence of palate surgery on abnormal maxillary growth. The finding of actin-rich cells in the granulation tissue of palatal wounds supports the hypothesis that one of the functions of those cells is contraction--and the latter subsequently leads to convergence of the wound margins and aberrations in growth of the underlying skeletal tissue. Much additional information is needed for final proof of that hypothesis. At present little is known about the initiation, regulation, or control of the proposed contractile phenomena, or the process of aberrent maxillary growth. Such information will be necessary for further development of clinical techniques that will allow normal maxillofacial growth after surgery on the palate at an early age.