SEQUEL TO THE CASE OF LAMENESS. 
95 
On removing the layers of muscle and exposing the joint, the 
first error detected was, that there was no relaxation of capsular 
ligament nor elongation of the round one, for the joint externally 
presented a perfectly normal appearance : a single incision through 
the capsular ligament disproved the second opinion, a fracture of 
the head of the thigh bone, for that was found uninjured; and 
a single movement of the joint destroyed all my own hopes of pre- 
eminence in judgment, by proving the ligamentum teres as firmly 
attached as any connecting medium in the body. The limb was 
now removed without the nature of the injury having become 
apparent; but, on grasping the acetabulum to ascertain if its edge 
was intact, the cause was at once discovered, for the acetabulum 
was as perfectly moveable itself as the head of the thigh bone 
should have been in it. A little more careful dissection, to lay 
bare the surface of the pelvis altogether, shewed the mystery; 
the rami of the ilium and the ischium, which support the aceta- 
bulum in situ , were fractured, and the cavity of the joint had been 
lying perfectly moveable in the mass of muscle by which it had 
been surrounded. The loss of the point d'appui , so perceptible 
during life in the want of command over the lateral motions of the 
limb, was at once accounted for ; and we had the satisfaction of 
finding that, although we had missed the precise nature of the in- 
jury itself, we had not erred in indicating the immediate spot 
where that injury had been received. The muscles lying immedi- 
ately on the surface of the bone had been ruptured simultaneously 
with the fractures, and it was the entanglement of some portion of 
their fibres between the fractured portions of the bone which had 
prevented that crepitus which would at once have indicated the 
nature of the case. A trifling ecchymosis in the surrounding tissues 
completes the account. 
There was not the slightest appearance of any effort on the part 
of Nature to repair the injury; the fractured surfaces were as rough 
and ensanguined as if a few days only, instead of between five 
and six weeks, had transpired. No deposit whatever had been 
thrown out; and even had there been, the entangled portions of 
the muscular fibre must have prevented any adhesion taking place. 
That the nature of this accident had not been discovered by the 
very careful examinations made per rectum during life, nor had 
become perceptible when the contents of the pelvic cavity had 
been removed after death, must be attributed to the very beautiful 
and effective manner in which the inner surface of that cavity is 
lined by its numerous ligamentous and fascial tissues, which, it 
would thus appear, go far to support the relative position of the 
surrounding parts, and partly, also, to the fact that the inner edge 
of the pelvis remained intact, so that no lesion could be discoverable 
by passing the hand around it, per rectum. 
