The mechanics, mechanical anatomy, and mechanical distortions of the bony structure of the human foot : being a synopsis of a demonstration given before the medical schools and societies in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia / by J.C. Plumer.

  • Plumer, John C.
Date:
[1862?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The mechanics, mechanical anatomy, and mechanical distortions of the bony structure of the human foot : being a synopsis of a demonstration given before the medical schools and societies in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia / by J.C. Plumer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    14/50
    IFig. 5.] In this kind of deformity, the ligaments of the sole of the foot, which hind the bones together so as to form the arch, a/re weakened and elongated. * ♦ * * {Figs. 15 to 27, part 2d). A SYSTEM OF PRACTICAL SURGERY. BY WILLIAM FCRGERSON, F. K. S. E., Professor of Surgery in King^s College, London; Surgeon to King's College Hospital, etc., etc., 1843. The great toe and its metatarsal bone are liable to a kind of displace- ment of a slow and gradual character, constituting a condition whose real nature has occasionally been overlooked. The disease is termed bunion. In some individuals the distal extremities of the metatarsal bones have a considerable tendency to separate from each other; and as more latitude of movement is permitted on the outer and inner margin of the foot than in the other bones, any inconvenience which may result therefrom is experi- enced in these situations. The distal extremity of the metatarsal bone of the little toe is occasionally somewliat prominent, but seldom causes much inconvenience; in the great toe, however, the spreading out of the foot causes the end of the metatarsal bone to appear so prominent, that this condition is often mistaken for an organized tumor on the inside of the articulation. The swelling is occasioned almost solely by the end of the metatarsal bone, whose projection inwards is rendered conspicuous by dis- placement of the toe itself, which slopes off from the metatarsal bone towards the other toes, so as to make the distortion more prominent. The feet of the female opera-dancer are always distorted in this way; the dis- placement being, doubtless, occasioned by the frequent habit of poising the body on this member, and thus producing a ' fantastic toe,' of a very dif- ferent description from that to which the phrase usually has reference. The skin over the projection is generally thinner than in the natural condi-