BON 



(fuppofe of the tibia nnd ft-niur), be dtveflcd of tlieir 

 cartilage by ulceration, their extremities may co:defce, and 

 form one cor.tiiuious bono, which is nrmed cnchylajls. A 

 ftilT joint, from this caufc, is irremediable, and in general it 

 may be conlidered as the moll favourable termination of 

 difeafed joints ; for they too commonly are attended with 

 fuch dillrefHng fym])toi!is as to require amputation, in order 

 to prcferve the patient's life. See Vn'hite S\V£lljng, and 

 Difi-aps of I he Joints. 



The coillidcration ai Fradiircs and DiJlocaUoiu is referved 



for their proper places in the Cyc!op:rdia, where will be 



likewifc dcfcribed the mar.ncr of reducing bones, vulgarly 



called hme-fcllhig. This art, (which requires a very corredt 



acquaintance with the anatomy of the joints and mufeles), 



lias, mofl unaccountably, been ofte:! left to ij^norant 



.ferriers ^r;d mechanics, who arc totally celUtute of kucw- 



■ Icdge on thefe fubjec^s 1 We might, with as much re:ifon, 



cntrull the repairing of a watch, or a mill, to perfons who 



•never had an opportunity of examining their mechanifm ! By 



-accident, it is barely poffible, foiiie good might be done ; 



but the greater char.ce is, that the inftrument would be 



damaged rather than rectified, in the hands of fuch un&ilful 



operators. 



jjoiies will, in ricketty and fcrofulons coiillitutioiis, pafs 

 into a (late of fpontaneous enlargement, or decay, or flexi- 

 bility, &c. The fpongy parts of bones, e. g. the extremi- 

 ties of cylindrical bones, are moll liable to become dileafed 

 in fuch fubjeifls, efpecially during the early period of lite ; 

 but in venereal patients, who are alfo very fufoeptible of 

 morbid changes in the bones, they are their hard parts chiefly 

 which become aff'eCltd, as in the middle of the tibia, or 

 tilna, or upon the central portions of the frontal and parietal 

 bones. See Rickets, Scrofula, and Lues Venerea. 

 Some obiervations on the furgical treatment of difeafed bones 

 will be alfo made under the heads of Caries, Necrosis, 

 Spina Bifida, Distortion, Curvature, Mollities, 

 and Exostosis. 



The llrudlure of bones may be altered from feveral caufes ; 



but principally, from eith-rr a deficiency, or a redundancy of 



the phofphat of lime, which enters into their compofition, 



and gives them folidity. When there is too little phofphat 



of lime, the gelatinous part of the bones being unable to 



f'lftain mucli weight or refillaiice, they will become prettr- 



naturally flexible ; and, on the contrary, when there is too 



much phofphat of lime, in proportion to the gelatinous 



pait, the bones will be very fragile, and perhaps, may even 



break from the mere aftion of the mufeles. The flexible 



jtatc is mo'l common in young perfons, and the fuperabun- 



dance of oflfeous matter is chiefly predominant in old age ; 



but either condition of the bones may occur at any period 



of hfe, from peculiar morbid difpolltions. The popular 



notion of our bones being more frangible in cold weather 



than in hot, is erroneous, and without foundation ; fince 



the difference of feafon make no difference in the texture 



of the living bones : and the only natural caufe to be af- 



figned for the fraflure of our limbs more frequently in the 



winter than in the fummer, is that of an increafed flipperinefs 



and hardnefs in the ground from froft, S;c. which mull 



neccflarily occafion more phyfieal violence and frequency in 



our falls. 



Bones, hi the funeral fohmmt'ies of the ancients. — Divers 

 ufages and ceremonies relating to the bones of the dead, 

 have obtained in different ages ; as gathering ihtm from 

 the funeral pile, wafhing, anointing, and depoCuing them in 

 urns, and thence into tombs ; tranflating them, which was 

 not to be done without the authority of the pontiffs ; not 

 to fay worfhipping them, ilill pradifcd to the bones of the 



:b o N 



faints in the P-omifu church. Among the ancients, thelionf « 

 of travellers and f, Idiers, dying iu foreign countries, were 

 brought home to be buried, till, by an exprefs S. C. made 

 doling the Italic war it was forbid, and the foldiers bones 

 ordered to be buried where they died ; the reafon was, left 

 liie melancholy light Ihould difcouvage the people from 

 venturing their lives. Antiquaries are divided as to the 

 manner of diftinguifhing the bones of the deceaied, from 

 thofe of the beails and flavcs, who were facriliced at his 

 funeral, and thrown into the fame fire : probably it wa« 

 done by dilpoling the body of the dead in the middle 

 of the pile, and the others towards the fides. Potter's 

 Archaeol. torn. ii. lib.iv. cap. 6. 



The Romans had a pecuhar deity, under the denomina- 

 tion of Offiln^o, to whom the care of the induration and 

 knitting of the human bones was committed : and who, on 

 that account, was the object of the adoration of all breeding 

 women. Pitifc. Ant. tom. ii. p. J41. 



BosES,fo/ftk, or petrified, are thofe found in the earth, 

 frequently at great depths in all the ftrata, even iu the 

 bodies of ftones and rocks. 



There are divers forts of foffile bone ; fome of a huge fize, 

 ufually fuppofed to be the bones of giants, but more truly 

 of elephants, or hippopotami ; others Imaller, as vertebra, 

 te;th, and the like. 



It has been dilputed whether thefe be really animal fub- 

 flances, or mineial, that is, Hones thus figured. Modern 

 iiaturaliils generally allow them to be animal, not merely on 

 account of their figure and refemblauce, but of their che- 

 mical principles, which are found to be wholly of the animal 

 kind. It is fuppofed they were repofited in thofe ft:rata at 

 a time when all things were in a Hate of folution, and that 

 they incorporated and petrified with the bodies where they 

 happened to be lodged. 



In the Philofophical Tranfaftions (vol. Ixxxiv. p. 407, 

 &.C.) we have fome obfervations on foffil bones by the late 

 Mr. John Hunter. They were occafioned by an examina- 

 tion of bones of this kind, found in the caves of Gailenreauth 

 and Klaufsfl.ein, two fmall villages in the principality of Bay- 

 rcuth, (or Bareith,) and prefented to the Royal Society by 

 the margrave of Anfpach. Thefe bones are confidered 

 more as incrufled bodies than extraneous foflils, fince their 

 external furface has only acquired a covering of cryllallized 

 earth, with little or no change in their internal flrudlure. 

 The principal earth with which bones are moft commonly 

 incnilled is the calcareous ; and this happens either by the 

 bones being immerfed in water, in which this earth is fuf- 

 pended, or by water's pafTing through maflcs of this earth, 

 which it diflolvcs, and afterwards depolits upon bones which 

 lie underneath. Bones which are incrufled feeiii never to 

 undergo this change in the earth, or under the water, where 

 the folt parts were deflroytd; while buncs that are folTilizcd 

 become fo in the medium, in which they were dtpofUed 

 at the animal's death. The incrufled bones have been pre- 

 vioully expofed to the air ; w-hich is evidently the cafe with 

 thefe bones, and alfo with thofe of the rock at Gibi altar, 

 thofe found in Dalmatia, and thofe of the illand of C'trigo. 

 They are thus dillingnifhcd from foffilized bones : but as 

 they are found in difl'erent fit nations, it is more difficult to 

 account .for their prefent Hate. Thofe in Germany are 

 found in caves ; the coall of Dalmatia is faid to be wholly 

 fin-med of them ; and this is the cafe with a large portion 

 of the rock of Gibraltar. With refpcft to the firil elafs of 

 bones, as they are tliofe of carnivorous animals, refcm- 

 bling, in fome refpefts, thofe of the white bear, and yet dif- 

 fering, in fome circumflances, from the prefent auiiiTal of 

 that fpecies, Mr. Hunter fuggells, that the animals to which 



thty 



