Page:A Treatise on the Diseases of the Bones.djvu/49

Rh which I have to make upon it, into the form of an Appendix.

When, from causes with which we are not acquainted, the fractured extremities of bone do not put on a sufficient degree of inflammatory action, they either become coated with a fibro-cartilaginous matter, or remain for a long time in the state they were in after the receipt of the injury. It is the object of the surgeon, in cases of this description, to excite a sufficient degree of inflammation in the seat of the fracture, in order to promote the formation of callus; and this has been attempted with success by many surgeons, and by different means. The most common methods which have been employed are pressure, passing a seton between the fractured ends of the bone, or by removing a portion of the bone above and below the fracture: to accomplish this latter object, Mr of Manchester used the cutting pliers; others have preferred the saw.