Armlet

“ The flesh in front of the elbow will not be pinched if, the [92] forearm being fitted very accurately, the muscles of the upper arm are allowed free play, by cutting away the front of the armlet to half its height, but in this case an indirect attachment to the shoulder is essential. ”

“ Armlets are made of these shells, but it is a most tedious job and takes the maker ages to accomplish, as the circle is generally cut out with a rough piece of iron and then finished off by a course of rubbing with sand. Both men and women wear armlets, and, as most of them are placed on their arms when they are quite young, they become extremely tight as the wearer grows up, and look as if they would destroy the use of the limb. ”

“ It deserves notice that the weight of the penannular armlet here represented, 629 gr., is divisible by six (within a fraction—a single grain) , in accordance with the rule asserted by Irish antiquaries in regard to the "ring-money" of the sister kingdom.
Fig. B.—An armlet formed of an annular piece of plain wire, fashioned so that the disunited extremities form loops, through which cither a lace or a metal hook might be passed, if any such means of attachment were desired. Weight, 11 dwt. 5 gr.—A second armlet, formed with a double wire, and looped extremities. Weight, 11 dwt. 12 gr. ”

“ But, in actual work, thrusting movements are nearly always made with the elbow bent to a right angle or almost so, then the pressure transmitted through the forearm piece is borne almost entirely by the steels of the armlet.
3. Resistance to Rotation.—A well-adjusted artificial arm cannot rotate on the limb because—
(1) The forearm is elliptical in section and not circular, this is specially so in the lower third.
(2) Flexion of the elbow is only possible if the artificial joint is in the same plane as the axis of the elbow joint—that is, the sagittal plane. ”

“ Christoval and the adjacent islands. The large Tridacna armlets are not often worn, the small shell armlets being those generally preferred, and as in the case of those worn in the eastern islands, their number indicates the rank and wealth of the wearer. The plaited arm-bands described on page 132 are frequently worn. Armlets made of trade beads are favourite ornaments of the women: when visiting the houses of the chiefs, I have sometimes found their wives employed in this kind of fancy-work, small red, blue, and white beads being tastefully worked together in the common zig-zag pattern. ”

“ Round the wrists and above the elbows, Armlets of silver, gold, glass, horn, or ivory, are worn according to the ability of the wearer to purchase them; and on the ankles they have silver, brass, copper, or iron shackles. ”

“ Armour should be so designed that its principal lines help the composition and express the form in the most forcible, suitable and simple way. In an arm, for instance, which is of frequent occurrence as a crest, it should be observed how the gauntlet has its defence added to the glove, how its wrist fits over the arm piece, the arrangement of the elbow piece, the cubitiere, on its inner and outer sides with regard to the hollow of the arm, and so forth. ”

“ They just aren’t meant for you. From point of style, becomingness, service, they will fail you all the way. On the other hand, don’t overdo narrow shoulders. Strike a happy medium.
Upper arms that are larger than the armhole are quite common, and the mistake is often made of fitting the armhole to the sleeve rather than the sleeve to the armhole. Have the armhole comfortable and smooth and set a gusset in the sleeves or increase the seams in cutting from the armhole to the elbow.
87
We can smile and aid our front, our back must always protect us by being at least inoffensive and pleasing. ”

“ When one or both arms are thrown into a horizontal position they show themselves as a sidewise growth of the body, like the limb of a tree, and consequently have their base in the center of the back, or in the center of the front. For the purpose of permitting the arms to drop down to the side, a wedge, or gusset, or a lap, is made between the top of the armhole and sleeve, which is taken up when the arm drops down into its natural position at the side. ”

“ Our first thought is to suppose that a long forearm, being a weak lever, will be ill adapted for climbing. But when you look at Fig. 10, the explanation becomes plain. When a branch is seized by the hand, and the whole weight of the body is supported from it, the entire machinery of the arm changes its action. The forearm is no longer the lever which the brachial muscle moves (Fig. 10) , but now becomes the base from which it acts. The part which was its piston cord now serves as its base of fixation, and what was its base of fixation to the humerus becomes its piston cord. ”

“ For the back stroke therefore, and that the arm may not only bend at the elbow, but also extend and straighten itself with force, other muscles, the longus, and brevis brachiæus externus, and the aconæus, placed on the hinder part of the arms, by their contractile twitch, fetch back the fore-arm into a straight line with the cubit, with no less force than that with which it was bent out. The same thing obtains in all the limbs, and in every moveable part of the body. ”

“ When the toes of the right limb seemed firmly planted in a receptacle, the right arm was made to slide along the rock until the fingers had obtained a firm grip in the cavity directly above the one in which the toes were. Then the entire body had to be shifted from left to right, bringing the left foot and hand close to the right extremities and suspending one's weight on the former, so as to render the right foot and arm ready to make the next move forward, and so on, till I reached the other side and alighted upon the narrow track, which was itself only five or six inches wide. ”

“ The arm with the ratchet at the elbow is in fact suitable for use by a clerk. But it is not either strong enough or simple enough for manual labour. In our opinion the functional and practical value of an artificial arm, particularly for amputation above the elbow, is often exaggerated, however it does exist, especially in many branches of agricultural work. For the latter the slightness of the lateral steels—and especially of the joints at the elbow—makes the appliance insufficiently strong. ”

“ Besides these peculiarities of the hands and feet, which, moreover, are supplied in every joint with tendons and muscles of great motive power, the fore-arm is capable of turning the wrist forwards or backwards, or, as it [Pg 213] is called, rotating, and also of bending. Again, the upper arm is loosely but firmly attached to the shoulders and neck, so as to admit of great range of motion, so what with the bending and rotation of the fore-arm, and the mobility and cushioned state of the fingers, these creatures possess a wonderful apparatus, suited for extreme action and safe holding on. ”

“ If the back of the armhole is not supplied with what is taken out in front, the under and back sleeve will drag and pull backward. Because the stooping form may throw his arm forward, is no indication that his arms becomes larger, but it demonstrates that his armhole must be located more forward.
But again: Because a man is stooping is no indication that his back must be round. A man may throw his neck downward in front, but may also throw his arms backward, and stand very erect in the waist. Such a form requires his neck hole downward in front but does not require his armhole forward. ”

“ Each arm can be subdivided into upper arm, forearm, wrist, and hand. The skeleton of the upper arm is a single long bone. The forearm has two bones, one of which is hinged at the elbow to the bone of the upper arm in a way to limit the movement to the single back and forth swing of which the elbow is capable. The other bone of the forearm can be rolled over the one which is fast at the elbow ”

“ The position of the upper limb is typical: the arm and forearm hang close to the side, with the forearm extended and pronated; the deltoid, spinati, biceps, brachialis, and supinators are paralysed, and in some cases the radial extensors of the wrist and the pronator teres are also affected. The patient is unable to supinate the forearm or to abduct the arm, and in most cases to flex the forearm. He may, however, regain some power of flexing the forearm when it is fully pronated, the extensors of the wrist becoming feeble flexors of the elbow. ”

“ Your arm must be raised until high overhead, the hand hanging from the wrist and dropped into your lap or down at the side, letting the elbow "give," so that the upper arm drops first, and then the fore arm and hand,—like three heavy sand-bags sewed together. The arm can be brought up to the level of the shoulder, and then round in front and dropped. ”

“ The armhole must be larger than the body all around, and no coat feels agreeable or looks well if the armhole is tight-fitting on the top of the arm or at the shoulder seam.
The shoulders should fit at the neck, but not tight. They should hang and balance themselves between the arm and the neck, where neither the movement of the neck nor that of the arms interferes with the coat. At the arm, the shoulders of a well-fitting coat should be loose, and as long as the sleeve fits so that it will not drag the armhole out of place such looseness will remain there, forming a square shoulder. ”

“ The bones of the arm, with their accompanying muscles, and those of the fingers, are enclosed between the two layers of skin of which the membrane is composed, and which they serve to extend and support. In front of the arm there is a small portion of membrane filling up the angle of the elbow, and called the antebrachial membrane. The thumb is left free. Behind the arm is the great expanse of the wing, which springs from the sides of the body, and is also attached to the hind legs, generally extending down to the ankle. ”

“ For a leg hanging like a flail, or shortened by some inches, is not so good for purposes of locomotion as a wooden leg is, while an arm, even though powerless at the elbow, and perhaps much shortened, can be so strengthened and supported by slings and bandages as to give a most useful hand, the complex movements and uses of the fingers of which no mechanism can at all imitate. ”

“ To fit a sloping shoulder, take up the shoulder seams to conform to the slope of the shoulders. This means that the garment will be taken up deepest at the armhole and probably only the seam allowance at the neck.
Of course this makes the armhole smaller. Slash the material under the arm until the garment is comfortable, being careful not to slash too deeply. The armhole is enlarged by the seam taken in sewing in the sleeve.
When a person's shoulders are unusually square, the wrinkles come crosswise below the neck, front and back of a garment cut from a standard size pattern. ”

“ For instance, if there is a DISLOCATION OF THE ELBOW, the patient being settled, let one man take hold of his arm near the shoulder, to make counter extension while another makes extension at the wrist. You yourself being seated grasp the elbow with your two hands by applying your fingers to the anterior part and your thumbs to the posterior, press on the projecting point of bone downwards and forwards. ”

“ Splints for the arm should be made of solid materials, although light; some a little hollowed, and at a right angle, to correspond with the bend of the arm, and to admit of a little motion of the radius and of the forearm and hand, which relieves the position, is more comfortable for the sufferer, and tends to prevent stiffness of the elbow. ”

“ Figs. 136 and 137.—Amputation through the forearm above the upper third. The elbow joint does not flex beyond the right angle.
Fig. 138.—Limb for amputation through the upper third of the forearm. (For a description of the ratchet see page 135.)
The chief functional difficulty depends upon the fact that, with the elbow at a right angle, the anterior surface of the forearm stump is too short to support a weight; for example, a basket held by the handle. The stump escapes partly from the bucket when the forearm extends. ”

“ A glove that ends exactly at the wrist bone, or a boot at the ankle joint, with a straight line, is always ugly; so are dresses when they are cut in a circle close to the juncture of the neck with the shoulder, giving the neck a decapitated appearance. The line of contrast should always be softened with an edge of lace, or a necklace, and only round, pretty throats should dare such a display. ”

“ Very large arms carry with them a suggestion of coarseness that is unpleasant as associated with a woman. It is, as we have said before, impossible to give the exact proportions which one portion of the human frame should bear to the rest. The ideal arm, however, should gradually decrease in size from the shoulder to the wrist, the outlines being marked by those inward curves which are also noticeable in well-formed shoulders. ”

“ The upper arm, between the shoulder and elbow is short, and is buried in muscle so that one doesn’t notice it. So the first joint that shows, where the fore-leg joins the body, is not the shoulder but the elbow. ”

“ The arm from the shoulder to the elbow in bending increases in length, that is in the length from the shoulder to the elbow, and this increase is equal to the thickness of the arm at the wrist when seen in profile. ”

“ On looking at the arm-bone, which, being connected to the shoulder by a joint, has much to do with the act of climbing and striking, it will be noticed that it greatly resembles that of man in shape, but is longer, stouter, and clumsier. The joint is nearly in the shape of a rounded knob, and the corresponding depression or cup on the blade or shoulder-bone into which it fits, is an oval and concave surface, and they are kept close together by a kind of capsule which stretches from one bone to the other and encloses the joint. ”