Forearm

“ Several of the muscles in the forearm run into tendons in the wrist because if the muscle part were to extend along the wrist, this part of the arm would be large and clumsy instead of graceful and slender. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The arm is either allowed to rest upon the table, upon the flexor mass of muscles of the forearm near the elbow as a kind of movable fulcrum, or is held with the forearm parallel to the table and a short distance above it. ”

“ At rest the right forearm is pronated, the wrist completely flexed and bent toward the ulnar side, the thumb is slightly adducted, and the fingers, although slightly flexed, are comparatively free, enabling him to use the scalpel with dexterity. ”

“ On the front of the arm, for instance, we have the large biceps ("two-headed") muscle, which runs from the shoulder to the bone of the forearm just below the elbow and, when it shortens, bends the elbow and lifts the arm toward the body. ”

“ The hand and forearm should be bandaged from below upward to the elbow. The bone is put in place by grasping the patient's elbow and pulling directly down in line with the arm, which is held slightly away from the side of the patient, while an assistant steadies and pulls up the shoulder. ”

“ The forearm is used in addition to the wrist when the balls lie farther apart, judgment, of course, being exercised in imparting the force in accordance with the distance between cue- and object-ball. ”

“ Ulnar and musculo-cutaneous nerves.—Entry, back of forearm; the bullet passed between the bones and was retained at the posterior aspect of the arm. Three weeks later the hand was glossy and stiff, the fingers extended and adducted, the thumb was held stiffly in the palm with no power of extension. The forearm was held semiprone, and the elbow flexed by a rigid biceps. Six months later the same position was maintained, but the contracture disappeared under an anæsthetic. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Showing A thickening of flexors on front of arm, as forearm is swung forward, and B thickening of extensors on back of arm, as forearm is swung backward.
The muscles of the limbs are almost as numerous as those of the trunk of the body, and even more complex. Most of them, on both arms and legs, are in two great groups—one known as the "benders," or flexors, which, when they shorten, bend the limb ”

“ Experiment 20. Repeat the same experiment with other muscles. With the right hand grasp firmly the extended left forearm. Extend and flex the fingers vigorously. Note the effect on the muscles and tendons of the forearm. Grasp with the right hand the calf of the extended right leg, and vigorously flex the leg, bringing it near to the body. Note the contractions and relaxations of the muscles.
70. Arrangement of Muscles. Muscles are not connected directly with bones. The mass of flesh tapers off towards the ends, where the fibers pass into white, glistening cords known as tendons. ”

“ Any of the vessels of the lower limb may be controlled by compressing just behind the knee between the two prominent tendons that will be found there when the leg is doubled up. Arteries of the forearm and hand can be stopped by pressing with the thumb at the elbow joint just to the inner side of the tendon of the biceps which you may feel like a cord when the arm is extended. If the bleeding is from the upper arm stretch the whole arm by raising it above the head. ”

“ After completing the process upon both legs, the arm is next treated in the same manner, the hand receiving somewhat more detailed attention than the foot. Pains must be taken to reach the several groups of the forearm by operating from both sides of the arm. The ordinary manipulation of the shoulder can be accomplished with the patient lying down; but if special conditions, such as articular stiffening, call for unusual care or unusual force, it will be found best to treat the shoulder with the patient seated. ”

“ It is most frequently observed in the flexor muscles of the forearm in children and young persons under treatment for fractures in the region of the elbow, the splints and bandages causing compression of the blood vessels. ”

“ In the forearm there is, as in the human skeleton, the radius and the ulna. But the ulna has lost its function, and is fused with the radius. What we call the knee in the horse’s fore-limb is really the wrist. There are eight bones in the human wrist. ”

“ Thus a man bends his forearm on the upper arm largely by aid of the familiar "biceps." This done, the "biceps" retires from the field of work. The arm is straightened by the action of a different muscle, the "triceps." ”

“ The arm that she held out was gloriously white; and as every man knows, the operation of pulling on the glove of a pretty girl is apt to be prolonged. There are fingers to fit, and a little thumb to stroke daintily; while the grip upon the more substantial part of the forearm will bear repetition so long as time serves. ”

“ During my many wars with the Mexicans I received eight wounds, as follows: shot in the right leg above the knee, and still carry [Pg 110] the bullet; shot through the left forearm; wounded in the right leg below the knee with a saber; wounded on top of the head with the butt of a musket; shot just below the outer corner of the left eye; shot in left side; shot in the back. I have killed many Mexicans; I do not know how many, for frequently I did not count them. Some of them were not worth counting. ”

“ You know the wonder of a woman's arm--the fore arm, I mean; the sweet fading away from rounded biceps and hint of muscle, down through small elbow and firm soft swell to the wrist, small, unthinkably small and round and strong. ”

“ 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 ipselateral reflex is flexion at shoulder, elbow and wrist. The contra lateral fore limb at the same time is extended at shoulder, elbow and wrist. When the reflex spreads to the hind limbs the hind limb of the same side is extended at hip, knee and ankle, that of the crossed side is sometimes flexed at hip, knee and ankle, but sometimes is instead extended at hip, knee and ankle. The reflex sometimes spreads to the neck, causing the head to be turned toward the fore limb, which is the seat of the stimulation. ”

“ In examining an injured elbow, the thumb and middle finger are placed respectively on the two epicondyles, while the index locates the olecranon and traces its movements on flexion and extension of the joint. The movements of the head of the radius are best detected by pressing the thumb of one hand into the depression below the lateral epicondyle, while movements of pronation and supination are carried out by the other hand. The uninjured limb should always be examined for purposes of comparison. ”

“ The left shoulder, which, as I had previously noticed, the old man could make little use of, was shrunk and thin to the elbow, like a mere bone covered with skin, and those veins and muscles which were unscathed, wound round the bone close to the surface. ”

“ 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. ”

“ While the right hand strokes upward over the left side and upper chest, and the body is raised and bent to the right, the left outstretched arm is carried or swung around to the back and upward over the head to the front and down on the outer side of the right thigh, so that it reaches there when the right arm is released at the right armpit. The right arm then performs a similar movement, while the left hand is stroking upward over the right side. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Those at the knee, for example, contribute more to the length of limb than do those at the hip or ankle, and they are also the last to unite. In the upper limb the more active epiphyses are at the shoulder and wrist, and these also are the last to unite. ”

“ The words “quite ready” are no sooner whispered, than the operator, grasping firmly with his left hand the flesh which forms the front part of the patient’s thigh, thrusts quietly and deliberately the sharp blade horizontally through the limb, from its outer to its inner side, so that the thigh is transfixed a little above its central axis, and in front of the bone. He next cuts directly downwards, in the plane of the limb, for about four inches, and then obliquely outwards, so as to form a flap, which is seized and turned upwards out of the way by the appointed assistant. ”