FRACTURE. 
tude with which the fraQture is put in a ftate of coaptation ; 
the moft disfigurement happéning w. when: the fracture is not 
fet at all, that i is, when a oe ae of the bone unite 
as a cover to ignor: 
hen lamenefs and tena ey have been ee confequences of 
one or both thefe caufes, more than, of the nature and cir- 
circumftances of a frature, the callus has been found ready 
at hand to take the blame ; and the ideal exuberance of this 
fo -a malee e; by w 
fold over er other in an oblique direstion < more rally 
and more fecurely ith, and more 
dependence on, ity a The cighteen-tailed banda e was 
ufed for compound fractures fome time before its application 
was extended to fim le ones. In the firft inftances, furgeons 
were ftruck with the advantage of not being obliged to lift up 
and difturb the limb every time it was drefled, and every time 
ae 
2 
ct 
a 
ce dreffi ing Gat wounds 
yen nder motion neceflary 
; i ut confiderable 
amifchief may be occafioned by the aifturbance. Perfe& 
quietude is as neceflary towards the union of a bone in a 
fimple as in a compound fra€ture. In the latter cafe, there 
is a wound which requires to be arn ieee motion ma 
excite rather more pain than in the for ; but, notwith- 
ftanding this, motion is alfo highly ereudical in the cafe of 
a fimple fraGture. Mr. Pott has explained, that every 
paige which can be fuppofed to.be obtained by the com- 
oller, is cana Digg from the ule of the 
ey with o additional, and, to the 
patient, moft in taluable adv vantage, viz. that of never find- 
ing it neceflar 
‘treatme pe 
Th 
ufe of four | 5 
“fhould cee be form 
firm and unyie ding 
The old ane ufed. to err confiderably i in the de 
‘tion of fplints, only employing fuch as were fo fhort, that 
they merely extended a Fite e way above and below a frac- 
ture, without reaching to either of the neighbouring joints. 
cha e 
fiderably bruifed ; or = 
“the banda 
asac certain 
In this manner of application, and of this fize, as Mr. Pott 
has remarked, fplints are in faét neither more nor lefs than 
author explains, that the true and proper ufe of 
fplints 3 is “" to prefers saggy in the whole limb, without 
a ctu - all. the firlt effect, they 
ae curative intention ; by the fe- 
“The proper politi tion in ices fra€tured limbs fhould re. 
cure, would b 
main, during the oul our next fubject for con- 
fideration, were w ind it defe t we have to 
fay on this point. till we treat of particyiae ae res, 
oe fey ane 
» fhar 
recen tly broken ae mutt irritate and do great mifchief te 
the furrounding foft parts, is a truth fo manifeft as to need 
no comment. 
hen the furgeon, on his firft atriving in the patient’s 
mber, finds the limb aoe merely fra€tured, but cone 
te 
ling an nd inflammatio 
to wet the ba snags. he the faturnine lotion, and os 
folded linen, wet with the fame application, under t 
per pad and {plint. It will not be neceffary to take off the 
{plint every time more of the lotion is to be applied : it will 
be quite enough to to fqueeze fome of the fluid out of a fponge 
into the inte mace beatae the fplints ; by which means, 
e and linen will be kept conftan ntly wet, and an 
inceffant. Seon on the limb maintained, When a 
good deal of ecchymofis prevails, a lotion compofed of 
vinegar, {pirit of wine, and muriate of ammonia, is the m 
efficacious in promotin the ue of the extravafated 
blood. ardly obferve, that when it is deemed 
proper to apply a lotion, the emplaftrum faponis becomes 
fuperfluous. 
Patients ine fe ri fhould be kept on a low 
regimen, for days, unlefs extreme old age or 
great debility fhowka forbid but, after the hazard of in- 
flammation i is ‘over, a nourifhin diet is to ~ recommended, 
in vigour in the seca, and ftrength of con- 
itution, greatly expedite the procefs by which broken 
bones unite. 
n fome patients who have fraétured limbs, the ge 
ad ioflamns tory fymptoms are fo. confiderable, that 
genes dictates the Propriety: of iis away bloo 
pe 
The 
neceflity 
