Shin bone

“ The patient was a countryman of Pappatavia, whose arm a souldier broke in four places, without any wound, anno 1636. IX is a fracture of the shin-bone with a wound, and laying the bone naked. X is the bone of the shin with a wound, broken, with bones sticking forth, and bound with bands not crosswise, but circularly brought about and laid within the capsula as it ought to be. XI is a hand affected with a secret canker which is cut off in the sound part, namely at the end of the radius and cubit bone. ”

“ The tibia or shin-bone (fig. 16) is the larger and more important of the two bones of the leg; the femur moves and rests upon its Tlbl upper end, and down it the weight of the body in the
erect position is transmitted to the foot. Except the femur, it is the longest bone of the skeleton, and consists of a shaft and two extremities. The upper extremity is broad, and is expanded into two tuberosities, the external of which has a small articular facet inferiorly, for the head of the fibula; superiorly, the tuber- osities have two smooth surfaces, for articulation with the condyles of the femur ”

“ The same may be said for the markings on the bone, which indicate the presence of powerful muscles whose action is to keep the thigh straight with the back—or in other words, to keep the body erect. Below the knee are the two bones of the leg: the inner one, or shin-bone (the tibia) , is very short for the height of the animal, and the joint on its lower part, on which moves the ankle-bone, is not so deep and perfect as in man, whose weight is constantly to be borne on it whilst it is being moved in walking. ”

“ The knee-cap, for instance, which really belongs to the thigh, is attached to it by muscle, but to the shin-bone by a stout ligament. And so with the bones of the arm; they are connected to one another by ligaments; but to the trunk only by muscle, excepting at one end of the collar-bone.
"But this was a very significant fact. Ligament decays much more slowly than muscle, so that in a body of which the muscles had largely decayed the bones might still be held together by ligament. ”

“ And a certain dangerous mental state is always indicated when the foot is put forward and the shin bone slightly stretched out, with all the toes drawn in toward the sole of the foot, like a cat when it feels good. ”

“ Does the thigh have one bone in each? The shank of man has two bones, shin and splint bone. Do you see a groove near the end in the shank bone of a frog (Fig. 252) , indicating that it was formed by the union of a shin and a splint bone? The first two of the five bones of the ankle are elongated, giving the hind leg the appearance of having an extra joint (Fig. 253) . The foot consists of six digits, one of which, like the thumb on the fore limb, is rudimentary. The five developed toes give the five digits of the typical vertebrate foot. ”

“ Of this limb the double-knobbed part is termed the 'thigh-bone', the sliding part of the 'kneecap', the double-boned part the 'leg'; the front part of this latter is termed the 'shin', and the part behind it the 'calf', wherein the flesh is sinewy and venous, in some cases drawn upwards towards the hollow behind the knee, as in the case of people with large hips, and in other cases drawn downwards. The lower extremity of the shin is the 'ankle', duplicate in either leg. The part of the limb that contains a multiplicity of bones is the 'foot'. The hinder part of the foot is the 'heel' ”

“ It must be remembered that no one questions the modifiability of the individual. That the epidermis of the oarsman's hand is thickened and hardened; that muscles increase by exercise; that the capacity for thinking may be developed by steady application;—these facts nobody doubts. That well-fed fish grow to a larger size than their ill-fed brethren; that if the larger shin-bone (the tibia) of a dog be removed, the smaller shin-bone (the fibula) soon acquires a size equal to or greater than that of the normal tibia ”

“ TO NERVE A HORSE How to nerve a horse that is lame. Make a small incision about half way from the knee to the joint on the outside of the leg, and at the back part of the shin bone; you will find a small white tendon or cord ”

“ There is scarcely any regulated use of typical forms; and in the proportions of the figures especially there is no rule. The principal figures are about 61⁄2 heads high, and in others the heads are often larger, while the arms and legs are out of all proportion gigantic, the muscles being exaggerated into masses at the calf and knee, and the shin-bone absurdly prominent. ”

“ The lower extremities resemble the upper very closely in the arrangement of the bones, muscles, arteries, and nerves, though modifications occur, due to the difference in function of the lower limbs. There is one long bone in the upper part or thigh, the femur, and two in the lower part or leg, the tibia and fibula, while over the knee-joint is the patella or knee-cap. The ankle has seven bones and the foot nineteen like the hand. ”

“ The bones of the lower instep and toes correspond in number and arrangement to those of the hand and fingers, but the great toe does not have superior flexibility as does the thumb. There is one bone in the leg, the knee cap or patella, that does not correspond to any bone in the arm, although it does correspond to a part of a bone, namely, the projection, at the elbow, of the long bone of the forearm. A feature of the skeleton of the foot that is worth a word is the arching of the instep. ”

“ Dr. Mayer considers that this spur or hook is a true nail, in the cavity of which is a semi-cartilaginous bone representing the last joint of a toe; this is jointed to a small bone representing the metatarsus, the little projection from the swollen joint above is the tarsus, and the slender bone above is the tibia or leg-bone, imbedded in the muscles, and terminated by a slender curved and pointed filament of cartilage jointed to it, which probably represents the evanescent rudiment of a femur or thigh-bone. ”

“ When you want to make a straw man stand upright you run a pole right through him to give him support. Such a support is the backbone to your own body, keeping the trunk from falling together.
In the abdomen nothing more is wanted than this backbone, the sides and front of the cavity being covered in with skin and muscle only. In the chest{13} the sides are strengthened by the ribs, long thin hoops of bone which are fastened to the backbone behind and meet in front in a firm hard part, partly bone, partly cartilage, called the sternum. ”

“ All along the spinal column, and between each two adjoining bones, are openings on each side, through which nerves pass out to be distributed to various parts of the body.
Between the vertebræ are pads or cushions of cartilage. These act as “buffers,” and serve to give the spine strength and elasticity and to prevent friction of one bone on another. Each vertebra consists of a body, the solid central portion, and a number of projections called processes. ”

“ A very tough skin—a sheathe—surrounds the neck with blood vessels, nerves, muscles, bones, ligaments, fascia, glands great and small, throat and trachea. In bones we find a great canal for spinal cord. It is well and powerfully protected by a strong wall of bone, so no outer pressure can obstruct the flow of passing fluids, to keep vitality supplied by brain forces, but with all the guards given to protect the cord, we find that it can be overcome by impact fluids to such degree as to stop blood and other fluids from supplying lungs and all below. ”

“ The sawing is complete when the spinous processes become movable. The straight-edged chisel may be used to cut any adhesions left after sawing, and the bone-forceps may be used to cut the atlas and axis. When the laminæ have been cut through on both sides of the spinal column for its entire length, including the sacrum, the posterior ligament between the atlas and occiput is cut with the cartilage knife ”

“ In other cases the end of the bone is protruded out of its socket, by inflammation or enlargement of the cartilages or ligaments of the joint, so that it rests on some part of the edge of the acetabulum, which in time becomes filled up. When the legs are straight, as in standing erect, there is no verticillary motion in the knee-joint; all the motion then in turning out the toes further than nature designed, must be obtained by straining in some degree this head of the thigh-bone, or the acetabulum, or cavity, in which it moves. ”

“ If a dislocated bone is not found in the foot after ascertaining that there has been no crushing by falling bodies, horses [Pg 31] feet, stepping on glass, nails and other things that would penetrate the foot, and irritate by being broken off, closed and remaining in the flesh; we will explore the leg for the quail, ascertain if the articulation is normal at ankle and knee. ”

“ Fig. 15.—Cranium at birth, showing sutures and fontanelles.
The frontal bone, as its name implies, forms the fore part of the head or forehead. It joins the parietal bones above and the temporal bones on either side. At the lower edge are the supra-orbital arches, each with a supra-orbital notch or foramen on its inner margin for the passage of the supra-orbital vessels and nerve, the nerve most affected in neuralgia. Just above the arches on either side are the superciliary ridges, behind which, between the two tables of the skull, lie the frontal sinuses. ”

“ Each vertebra except the Atlas is composed of a body and an arch; the arch is made up of two pedicles, short, thick plates of bone extending outward and backward from the postero-lateral surface of the body nearer its upper than its lower border, two laminae, thin plates of bone extending backward and inward from their union with the pedicles and joining behind to form the spinous process, and has projecting from it seven processes, two transverse, one spinous, and four articular, two of which are superior and two inferior. ”

“ Swelling, with spasmodic of these symptoms may be wanting; there is little deformity, and no shortening, when one of two or more action of the muscles, soon takes place. One or several parallel bones is fractured. In fracture of the extremities, extrication of air into the cellular tissue, about the ends of the bone, is not unfrequent, though difficult to account for—giving rise to crepitation, superficial, and quite a distinct sensation from that imparted by the broken bone. ”

“ By the vertical movements of the sixth and succeeding trunk vertebrae, with the interspinous bones which they support, on the rigid structure formed by the head and first five vertebrae, the file-like first interspinous bone moves backwards and forwards, and, by scraping against the ridges on the inner surfaces of the cleft neural spines, gives rise to a harsh grating noise, which is particularly unpleasant when artificially produced. ”

“ The bony column serving as the framework and support of the legs, probably constitutes the most vital element having to do with weight bearing and locomotion, and therefore during the acute and painful stage of bone affections, the pain becomes more intense in the process and pressure of standing than when the member is swung or advanced.
Certain bones are so well protected by muscular structures that they are not frequently injured except as a result of violence which may produce fracture. ”

“ Having therefore first shaven the hairs about the forehead, we must permit the lower jaw to move, and avoiding the place where the temporal muscles are seen to act, we are to make three straight and parallel incisions on the forehead, each having the length of two fingers, and descending to the bone, and being at the distance of about three fingers’ breadth from one another. ”

“ Finally, this red zone was covered with a fairly thick layer of 42 white bone: this was the layer formed after the madder had been left off.... We shall have no further difficulty in understanding whence transudes the osseous juice that was thought necessary for the formation of callus and the filling-up of the wounds of the bones, now we see that it is the periosteum that fills up the wounds, or is made thick round the fractures, and afterward becomes of the consistence of cartilage, and at last acquires the hardness of bones. ”