FRACTURE OF BOTH HUMKKI. 
281 
that ^^she reeled like a drunken man.’^ Mr. Peech sufjo^ests 
that the fractures of the humeri might possibly have taken 
place previously to her falling on the road—she had had no 
other fall during the day—and that the ends of the bones 
remained in apposition until she fell on her way home. 
I can only think that such a thing may be barely pos¬ 
sible. To my mind it certainly is not very probable. If 
the fractures occurred otherwise than by concussive force, 
they must have been produced by muscular contraction, 
which, for two reasons, is not likely to have been the case in 
this instance. Firstly, because it is unusual for long bones to 
be broken from such causes; and secondly, if such should 
take place, displacement of the fractured bones is almost 
certain to occur at the time. The situation of the fractures, 
and their beino; comminuted, would also suggest the idea of 
their being produced by external violence. This opinion is sup¬ 
ported by the statement of Mr. Peech, who sa 3 's that he found 
shattered muscle and several small pieces of bone.^'’ And 
further, the fact that both bones were fractured as nearly as 
possible at the same place, viz., at the lower part of their 
upper fourth, leads me to the conclusion that muscular con¬ 
traction was not the cause. Rather, indeed, I should say, 
that the lesion depended indirectly upon the want of it. 
The breaker admits that the mare fell on the hard road, 
although he does not explain the nature of her fall. Never¬ 
theless, in the absence of more direct evidence, I am disposed 
to take the following view of this unusual case. I can picture 
to myself this poor mare, staggering along the road, the 
muscles of her hind parts being paralysed, and those of the 
fore extremities partially so from extreme exhaustion. Under 
such circumstances the muscles would be unable to move the 
passive organs of locomotion (the bones) with a proper degree 
of precision, and her movements, therefore, would of necessity 
be very defective, or, to use a common phrase, her legs would 
be ‘^all abroad.^^ In this condition, should she trip against 
a stone or other obstacle in the road, she would be almost 
certain to fall, and most likely would do so head foremost. 
I believe she must have fallen in this manner, and that the 
points of her shoulders came in contact with the hard 
road with a force sufficient to produce the fractures in 
question. 
My principal reason for making these few remarks on this 
important case is, that there may be some members of our 
profession who have scarcely taken into consideration the 
influence that exhausted muscular power has in the produc¬ 
tion of sprain to ligaments or tendons, and even a fracture 
