Armpit

“ The neck and arm's eye should be fitted by making slashes in the curve—never cut around the curve. For the collar or neck band have a true bias of thin canvas or crinoline and draw it around the neck and pin with the ends out, towards the worker. (Never lap any edges of waist, belt or collar when fitting.) Mark on the waist where the lower edge of the neck band touches. Draw the sleeve on the arm, pin and mark where it sets right, seeing that the elbow fullness is in the right place and that it does not twist at the hand. ”

“ The upper limb in man may be subdivided into a proximal part or shoulder, a distal part or hand, and an intermediate shaft, which consists of an upper arm or brachium, and a forearm or ante-brachium. In each of these subdivisions certain bones are found : in the shoulder, the clavicle and scapula ; upper arm, the humerus; in the forearm, the radius and ulna, the bone of the upper arm in man being longer than the bones
of the forearm ; in the hand, the car- pal and metacar- pal bones and the phalanges. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.
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We can smile and aid our front, our back must always protect us by being at least inoffensive and pleasing. ”

“ The upper part of the trunk is known as the thorax, or chest, and the lower part as the abdomen. The portions of the trunk to which the arms are attached are the shoulders, and those to which the legs are joined are the hips, while the central rear portion between the neck and the hips is the back. The fingers, the hand, the wrist, the forearm, the elbow, and the upper arm are the main divisions of each of the upper extremities. ”

“ Sometimes where the arm is lost the elbow will seem bent, and the hand in a fixed position on the breast. Sometimes, again, the position is non-natural, and the hand will seem to bud straight out of the shoulder, or the foot to be on the same level with the knee of the remaining leg. Sometimes, again, the position is vague; and sometimes it is ambiguous, as in another patient of Dr. Weir Mitchell's who
"lost his leg at the age of eleven, and remembers that the foot by degrees approached, and at last reached the knee. ”

“ 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. ”

“ One shoulder and arm are usually left bare. The part which may be called a petticoat—though the word is a slur upon the graceful drapery—is short, and shows the finely turned ankles, high insteps, and small feet. These women are tall, and straight as arrows; their limbs are long and rounded; their appearance is timid, one might almost say modest, and their walk is the poetry of movement. ”

“ But on corpulent men, these lines stand too far down, and on slim persons they are too far up; consequently, these lengths must be measured, and as the waist seam runs at right angles with the back, as on a square of 171⁄2, and as a point for line 20, take the outside of the elbow, and for line 171⁄2 take the inside of the elbow. The elbows [113] are a sure guide, for they always fit into the hollow of the waist, and no man can strike both of his hip bones with both of his elbows at the same time. As a general rule, I claim that the angle of 135 deg. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Sometimes the stiffening of a muscle, the raising of a shoulder, the crooking of a knee, gives all the play required by the Brothers in ridding themselves of their bonds. Their muscles and joints are wonderfully supple, too; the thumbs can be laid flat in the palm of the hand, the hand itself rounded until it is no broader than the wrist, and then it is easy to pull through. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Now he had an arm about her waist, and her right hand was gripped in the vise of his fingers. She felt his muscles straining against hers. His breath was hot upon her cheek. Slowly, slowly her right arm was being brought up behind her back. ”

“ At the psychologic moment the right foot is advanced half a pace, the left leg straightened into a brace, the right arm, with its extended cutlass, stiffened to a bar of steel—and the thing is done. The keen two-foot blade, slipping between the shoulder blade and the first rib, shores its way through heart and lungs, and its point may even penetrate to the abdominal cavity. ”

“ If the prevailing fashion be to reject the long sleeve, and to partially display the arm, let the glove advance considerably above the elbow, and there be fastened with a drawing-string, or armlet. But this should only be the case when the arm is muscular, coarse, or scraggy. When it is fair, smooth, and round, it will admit of the glove being pushed down to a little above the wrists. ”

“ The knees should be strait and braced, and the body, though perfectly strait, not perpendicular, but inclining as far to the right as a firm position on the right leg will permit. The right arm must then be held out with the palm open, the fingers straight and close, the thumb almost as distant from them as it will go, and the flat of the hand neither horizontal nor vertical, but exactly between both. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Few women have beautiful arms above the elbow. Fatness is not correctness of form, so that a short sleeve, no sleeve, or the painful strap which is all so many evening dresses can boast, is by no means always a thing of beauty.
A sleeve that falls in lace and frills just below the elbow hides many defects, besides softening, and rendering delicate, the lower arm and the hand. ”

“ Specimens of this armlet varied in width from 3⁄4 to 11⁄4 inches. (6) The beautiful large cut single-shell wrist ornament, commonly worn on the coast and plains, whence the Mafulu people procure it. Armlets will be seen worn by many of the people figured in the plates.
There is no practice of putting armlets on young folk, and retaining them in after life, so as to tighten round and contract the arm.
Leg-bands (Plate 25, Fig. 1) and anklets are worn by both men and women, and also by children, just below the knee and above the ankle. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ These designs are invariably placed on the men between the shoulders, just below the back of the neck, on the breast, on the front part of both thighs, and on the legs below the knee. On the women they are marked on the breast, on both shoulders, on both fore-arms, from the elbow, down over the back of the hands, to the knuckles, and on both legs below the knee to the ankle. ”

“ The scientific design permits the garment to conform to the figure over the hip bones, snug the abdomen and give a gentle upward and backward support reinforcing the abdominal wall. The elastic section in the back permits freedom of movement in standing, sitting or bending. The side lacings are so placed as to avoid the usual operative area; the holding-knots aid in maintaining the support of the garment. The back sections are of sufficient length and so shaped as to give a smooth, pleasing back line and aid in maintaining the anchorage of the garment on the body. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Clinical Features.—The attitude of the patient is characteristic: the elbow is flexed and is supported by the opposite hand, while the head is inclined towards the affected shoulder to relax the muscles of the neck. Crepitus is elicited on bracing back the shoulders, or on attempting to raise the arm beyond the horizontal, and these movements cause pain. Tenderness is elicited on making pressure over the seat of fracture, and also on distal pressure. ”

“ She sought out a black necktie and pinned it about her waist, and then, with a protesting frown, she deliberately tore a strip from the edge of one of the fine hem-stitched handkerchiefs, and folded it in about her neck in a turn-over collar. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Unless one's chest is unusually broad and strong, and often, even if it is, constant rowing warps his shoulders forward, and tends directly to make him a round-shouldered man, [M] while the upper arm, or that part above the elbow, has had practically no development, the inner part of the triceps or back-arm alone being called to severe duty, but the bulk being almost idle. ”

“ From the top of that precious fabric we have described hang the two arms, which are terminated by the hands, and which bear a perfect symmetry one with another. The arms are knit with the shoulders in such a manner that they have a free motion, in that joint. They are besides divided at the elbow and at the wrist that they may fold, bend, and turn with quickness. ”