FRAISE. 



FRANKALMOIGNE. 



198 



side. The interior lacerations heal, and the soft parts round the ends of 

 the fracture become consolidated with the periosteum, or fibrous invest- 

 ment of the bone, which swells and unites at the torn edge. In this 

 consolidated mass, which forms a soft case for the bone for some 

 distance above and below the fracture, but is thickest just at that 

 point, particles and spicula of bone are gradually deposited, till at 

 length it becomes rigid and firm, holding the ends of the bone in close 

 contact and peventing them from slipping away from each other, like 

 the slider of a parasol At length the patient finds the strength of his 

 limb restored, and conscious of the change, can no longer be persuaded 

 to refrain from using it. After a certain period, which has been 

 differently stated it may be six or seven months in the case of a large 

 bone the fractured ends become firmly adherent by the deposit of 

 bony matter between them ; the exterior case becomes absorbed, and 

 the cure is complete, the bone being rather thicker and generally some- 

 what stronger and more solid in the situation of the fracture than 

 before the accident. The whole of this process is much quicker in 

 infanta and children than hi adults, and somewhat more slow in ad- 

 vanced periods of life than in the middle age. Taking all ages, it 

 ranges, as we have said, from two to eight or ten weeks speaking, of 

 course, of the period at which the limb becomes firm enough to per- 

 form its functions. 



The treatment and progress of compound fracture depend upon the 

 circumstances of each cage ; and it would lead us too far to enter upon 

 them. The principles of management, however, are the same, as are 

 likewise, in the main, the natural processes by which firm union is 

 established. 



nited Fracture. It sometimes happens that, without any assign- 

 able cause, the processes we have just spoken of do not go forward ; 

 and the fracture, originally perhaps a very simple and promising one, 

 either does not unite at aU, or unites only by a tough and flexible sub- 

 stance like ligament or tendon ; and this even where nothing faulty 

 can be discovered in the constitution of the patient, or in the manage- 

 ment of the surgeon. Attempts are made to excite irritation and pro- 

 mote the deposition of bony matter in this new substance by rubbing 

 the ends of the bone together, and in other ways. Such attempts not 

 unfrequently fail, and the bone remains flexible and useless for life. 



Causet of Fracture. We have said nothing of the various ways in 

 which fractures may accidentally take place, because each reader can 

 imagine them for himself. There are, however, some circumstances 

 with reference to this subject which it is proper to mention. In the 

 first place, the simple action of the muscles, without any blow or 

 external pressure, is sufficient to break the bones. Such is, generally 

 speaking, the case in transverse fractures of the patella or knee-pan, 

 and occasionally hi those of the oUcranon, or point of the elbow. When 

 these are broken off by a sudden jerk of the muscles attached to them, 

 the detached portion of bone is carried up to some distance, and can 

 rarely be brought into sufficiently close apposition to unite by bony 

 matter. But the ligamentous substance we have mentioned in speaking 

 of ununited fracture is formed between the broken surfaces ; and if 

 proper care be taken not to permit it to be stretched while it is yet 

 M! extensible, it answers every purpose in these cases nearly as 

 well as bone. When one patella his been broken in this way, the 

 other is almost sure to follow soon after, having a double duty to per- 

 form in supporting the muscular contraction by means of which 

 the thigh is brought to a straight line with the leg in the erect 

 posture. 



rfect Fracture. There are some conditions which modify the 

 liability to the occurrence of fractures. Among these may be men- 

 tioned the soft and cartilaginous state of the bones in young infants 

 before the earthy matter has been completely deposited. At this period 

 it is not uncommon to find that although the limb is flexible at a 

 certain point, no crepitation can be felt, and that in point of fact there 

 is no actual separation of the ends of the bone. This is called imperfect 

 fracture. 



The opposite state of brittleness prevails in old age ; and owing to 

 thi circumstance, a very slight accident will often cause a fracture of 

 the neck of the thigh bone, the soft parts commonly receiving little 

 injury. In these instances ligamentous union is all that can be 

 effected, and the limb remains for the remainder of life to a great 

 degree crippled. 



Owium. A still more brittle condition of the bones is 

 sometimes co-existent with cancer, and probably other morbid states 

 of the constitution. It is called fra;/ilita ottium (fragility of the 

 bones), and sometimes reaches a remarkable pitch. A late eminent 

 physician informed the writer that, being called to attend upon a lady 

 in her pew at church, he found that she had broken her thigh in rising 

 fr.'i.i her hassock ; and in attempting to raise her, he broke her arms. 

 There is generally little injury of the soft parts in these fractures, and 

 they are said to unite rather more quickly than others. 



Some persons have asserted that the bones are more brittle in winter 

 than in summer ; but it does not require an hypothesis so improbable 

 as this to explain the principal fact on which the proof has been 

 rested, namely, the more frequent occurrence of fractures in frosty 

 weather. 



I SK is a row of palisades placed in a horizontal or oblique 

 position on the exterior, or on the edge of the ditch, in order to 

 increase the difficulty of passing over it at the time of an assault. 



FRAMB^ESIA. [SKIN, DISEASES OF.] 



FRANCHISE, a species of incorporeal hereditament. Franchise 

 and liberty are used as synonymous terms, and their definition is a 

 royal privilege, or branch of the prerogative, subsisting in the hands 

 of a subject. Such privileges must arise, therefore, from the grant of 

 the crown, though in some cases they may be held by prescription, 

 which presupposes a grant. The kinds of them are various, and 

 almost infinite, and may subsist in corporations, in one man, or in 

 many, as co-tenants. Thus a county palatine is a franchise, and so are 

 privileges given to corporate bodies, forests, chases, the right to 

 wreck, estrays, &c. Franchises may be lost or forfeited by the parties 

 who enjoy them, if they misuse their privilege or neglect to perform 

 the requisite duties in respect of them [FERRY] ; and if the owners are 

 disturbed or incommoded in the proper exercise of their franchise, 

 which is an injury known to the law as a disturbance of franchise, they 

 may have remedy in an action, or where the franchise is to levy a toll, 

 they may distrain for the amount alleged to be due. 



FRANCISCANS. In the BIOGRAPHICAL DIVISION an account of the 

 chief order is given under FRANCIS, ST. ; and it is there stated that 

 even of these there was considerable diversity in the practice of the 

 rules of the order. One part, called Spirituals, contended for the 

 observance of the rules in all their strictness; the others, called 

 Conventuals, advocated the possession of property to any extent by 

 the body as a community, though still prof essing poverty as individuals. 

 The Popes were partisans now of one branch and now of the other, 

 during the 15th and 16th centuries; and various ineffectual attempts 

 were made to efface the differences. The Fratricelli [FRATHICELLI] 

 entirely separated from them in the 15th century, or rather founded 

 a new order, adopting the primitive rules of St. Francis. As early as 

 1294 a number separated themselves, and formed a sub-order called 

 Celestin Hermits, or Minorites ; but this order was suppressed early 

 in the 14th century by the efforts of the Inquisition. In 1302 the 

 Clare Brethren also formed a separate sect, who, after some time took 

 the name of Observantins. To this order belonged the nuns of 

 St. Clare (as they were erroneously called, for the name was derived 

 from a river in Spain, where the first establishment was formed), or 

 Minoresses, whose nunnery was in London, near Tower Hill. In 1525 a 

 new secession ended in the establishment by Pope Clement VII. in 1528 

 of the order of Capuchins, so called from the pointed cowl or capuche 

 which they added to the ordinary Franciscan habit. The Capuchins 

 professed an abstinence from all worldly pleasures, and by their humility, 

 gravity, and attention to then- duties, ultimately acquired great popu- 

 larity and influence, though they had to struggle for a long time 

 against the power and influence of the Franciscans for their very 

 existence. In 1619 they acquired the right of electing their own 

 general, who held office for three years. Nuns of this order were first 

 instituted at Naples in 1583. During the early part of the present 

 century the order was suppressed, and the possessions secularised, in all 

 the Roman Catholic countries of Europe, except Portugal, Spain, and 

 Sicily; but since 1814, settlements of the order have been made in 

 Italy, Germany, and other places. Another sect was formed in 1532, 

 by the authority of the Pope, called Reformed Franciscans in Italy, 

 Recollets in France, and Barefooted Franciscans in Spain. They were 

 also known as Friars Minors of the Strict Observance, from their 

 rigid adherence to the original rules of the order. Other orders of less 

 note were the Brothers of the Sack, and the Bridgetine Nuns. 



FRANKALMOIGNE. This tenure is thus described by Littleton 

 ( 133) : " Tenant in Frankalmoigne is when an abbot or prior, or 

 other man of religion, or of holy church, holdeth of his lord in 

 Frankalmoigne ; that is to say, in Latine, in liberam elcemosinam, that 

 is, in free almes. And such tenure beganne first in old time." From 

 this it appears that lands which are held by religious bodies or by a 

 man of religion, are held by this tenure ; but neither fealty nor any 

 other temporal service is due. The spiritual services which were due 

 before the Reformation are thus described by Littleton ( 135) : "And 

 they which hold in frankalmoigne are bound of right before God to 

 make orisons, prayers, masses, and other divine services for the souls 

 of their grantor or feoffer, and for the souls of their heires which are 

 dead, and for the prosperity and good life and health of their heires 

 which are alive. And therefore they shall do no fealty to their lord ; 

 because this divine service is better for them before God than any 

 doing of fealty ; and also because these words (frankalmoigne) exclude 

 the lord to have any earthly or temporal service, but to have only 

 divine and spiritual service to be done for him." 



On this section Coke remarks : " Since Littleton wrote, the liturgie 

 or Book of Common Praier of celebrating divine service is altered. 

 This alteration notwithstanding, yet the tenure in frankalmoigne 

 remaineth ; and such prayers and divine service shall be said and 

 celebrated as now is authorised ; yea, though the tenure be in par- 

 ticular, as Littleton hereafter ( 137) saith, namely, to sing a mass, &c., 

 or to a placebo et dii-iye, yet if the tenant saith the prayers now 

 authorised, it sufficeth. And as Littleton hath said before (i 119), in 

 the case of socage, the changing of one kind of temporall services into 

 other temporal services altereth neither the name nor the effect of the 

 tenure ; so the changing of spiritual services into other spiritual services 

 altereth neither the name nor the effect of the tenure. And albeit the 

 tenure in frankalmoigne is now reduced to a certaintie contained in the 

 book of Common Prayer, yet seeing the original tenure was in frankal- 



