Remarks on Torn-ojf Digits in Man. 



29 



nerves, and tendons, all but two ; the extensor of the last 

 phalanx and the long flexor, these came away in their whole 

 length, carrying with them some of their fleshy fibres. This 

 patient recovered with scarcely any suffering. 



The digits most prone to such mishaps are undoubtedly 

 the thumb and little finger ; this may be partly accounted 

 for by their being flanking fingers, and so somewhat more 

 exposed to injury. 1 can only find one case recorded where 

 one of the central fingers suffered. A woman was standing 

 on a stool endeavouring to hang up a joint of meat. The 

 stool turned over, and the hook caught her ring finger near 

 its root ; the weight of her body caused the finger to sepa- 

 rate, with rupture of all the soft parts, except the tendon 

 of the deep flexor, which came away with fleshy fibres 

 attached. 



But there are numberless cases on record of the flanking 

 fingers, and especially the last phalanx, separating from 

 apparently trivial causes. A friend of my own once descended 

 somewhat hurriedly from the box-seat of an omnibus. He 

 was about to turn and walk away, when a gentleman who 

 had been sitting beside him said politely, " This is yours, 

 sir, I believe," and handed him down the last joint of his 

 left little finger, with its extensor tendon attached. Some 

 years ago, a gentleman walking down Elder Street when the 

 pavement was slippery, as a precautionary measure held his 

 hand over the railing in readiness for a slip ; he slipped and 

 fell, his signet ring was caught by one of the spokes of the 

 railing, and tore off his little finger. 



The peculiarities of such are : — 



1. The small amount of force necessaiw — tendon, belong- 

 ing to short masses of muscle, or muscular bellies common 

 to several tendons, give way either at the seat of injury or 

 where they commingle with the muscular fibre. 



2. Long tendons running in separate sheaths, playing 

 freely in grooves of their own, do not give way, but the 

 fleshy fibres do ; and we can, as was shown long ago by 

 M. Morand, imitate this on the dead body. 



3. They are seldom accompanied by much pain, at all 

 events at first, as shown by the instances I have mentioned ; 



