448 DOaS : THEIR MANAGBMBNT. 



repeated walks are required to accomplish what appears 

 to the ignorant so certain to occur. Thus, to do nothing 

 is far better in some cases than to perform much ; since 

 the absence of remedies accomplishes that which all the 

 paraphernalia of the surgery is unable to produce. 



There are cases, however, which cannot get well of 

 themselves, unless deformity be esteemed of no conse- 

 quence. Thus, when the radius and ulna are snapped 

 right across, and the foot, deprived of all support, dan- 

 gles at the end of the limb ; here the interposition of 

 surgical agency is absolutely required ; for the fracture, 

 if left to itself without the aid of art, would never assume 

 its proper situation. So when the humerus or femur are 

 fractured, the bones may unite of themselves ; but in that 

 case shortening of the limb and incurable lameness is cer- 

 tain to ensue. The practitioner aims not only to bring 

 the separated ends of the bone together ; but he endea- 

 vors, by the invention of various means, to keep them 

 there, or to force the limb all the time of the cure to be 

 and to remain at its fullest length. To prevent the ten- 

 dency to contract in the limb, and consequently to short- 

 on, is one of the chief difficulties which we have to con- 

 tend with in the treatment of fractures. When a bone is 

 broken, the muscles which hold the parts together sooner 

 or later contract, and sometimes with such force as to 

 draw the ends of the bone, which were once continuous, 

 side by side ; thus rendering the limb shorter than it was 

 previously. This force is generally exerted immediately 

 on the occurrence of the accident ; but in some petted 



