A treatise on the diseases of the bones / by Benjamin Bell.

Date:
1828
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the diseases of the bones / by Benjamin Bell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    inclination, or bending of the body forward, de- pends in a great measure upon the failure of mus- cular power, the weight of the head and supe- rior portion of the trunk becoming too great in old age, for the enfeebled dorsal and lumbar mus- cles to sustain. We do not find, however, that the stoop forms a regular curve; for, on examination, it will be perceived that the curvature is more or less acute at the joint of the hip, and slight, comparatively speaking, in the back and loins. In fact, there is superadded to the bending forward of the verte- bral column, a permanent semiflexion of the pel- vis upon the femur. In some individuals the stoop has a lateral inclination, and in these cases the limb on the more depending side is always shorter than the limb of the opposite side *. Indi- viduals thus affected cannot perform the motions of abduction beyond a very limited range. A dull pain and sense of weariness are felt in the re- * In this respect interstitial absorption of the neck of the thigh-bone differs from inflammatory and scrofulous affec- tions occurring in the hip-joint. In such cases the inclina- tion takes place on the side of the sound limb.