The orthopragms of the spine : an essay on the curative mechanisms applicable to spinal curvature, exemplified by a typical collection lately presented to the Parkes' Museum of Hygiene, University College, London / by Robert Heather Bigg.

  • Bigg, Henry Robert Heather, 1853-1911.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The orthopragms of the spine : an essay on the curative mechanisms applicable to spinal curvature, exemplified by a typical collection lately presented to the Parkes' Museum of Hygiene, University College, London / by Robert Heather Bigg. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    CHAPTER 11 THE UNNATUEAL SPINE Classification.—The term Spinal Curvature lias been conventionally applied to denote an unnatural state of curvature of the spine. In the ordinary and natural condition the spine exhibits the well-known curves which constitute the arch of the neck, the round of the back, and the small of the loins. These, in an unnatural manner, may become obliterated, ex- aggerated, or confused by other novel curves, in which case symmetry, and the mechanical perfection of which symmetry is but the outward expression, both disappear. From the briefly stated premises in the previous chapter, the rationale of the occurrence of spinal curvature is simply deducible, and a basis of classification arrived at. For, on the one hand, below is a base of arches, while, on the other, above is the mass of the body, comprising the head, arms, and trunk, evenly disposed, bilaterally balanced, and symmetrical both in weight and form. Between these two is the spine, with the functions already enunciated. Now these three factors, base, spine, and mass, form together an integral whole, and are relatively reliant on each other for form; and what directly affects the one will indirectly involve