Interstate medical journal . ch resisted reduction by means of ordinary measures, suchas extension over the back of a chair or the lower half of a door in thecase of the shoulder, were treated by more powerful apparatus, impro-vised or kept for the purpose. Bands for extension and counter-extension were applied. These con-sisted preferably of supple leather, but in the absence of these Hippoc-rates says that iron chains, cords, or the ropes for ships may be used,being wrapped round with woolen cloth at the parts where they areto come in contact with the skin. In reducing dislocations of the fi
Interstate medical journal . ch resisted reduction by means of ordinary measures, suchas extension over the back of a chair or the lower half of a door in thecase of the shoulder, were treated by more powerful apparatus, impro-vised or kept for the purpose. Bands for extension and counter-extension were applied. These con-sisted preferably of supple leather, but in the absence of these Hippoc-rates says that iron chains, cords, or the ropes for ships may be used,being wrapped round with woolen cloth at the parts where they areto come in contact with the skin. In reducing dislocations of the fingers, Hippocrates says that noosesformed from the twisted bast of palm shoots are suitable. Aristotlerefers to these in his book on the Parts of Animals. The power to be applied was obtained by means of winches or drumson axles, levers, wedges, screws and pulleys. Hippocrates only mentions three of these: Of all the mechanicalinstruments used by men the most powerful are these three, the winch, 56 INTERSTATE MEDICAL JOURNAL. Fig. 15. Reduction of dislocation of the Hu-merus by the scamnum. After Vidius. MILNE: ANCIENT SURGICAL APPARATUS the lever and the wedge. He does* not mention the screw, though it likely that the Greeks of his time knew of it, but we shall see thatlater the Greeks applied it, as rin the machine of Xymphodorus, togenerate power for reducing dislocations. Hippocrates does not in this passage refer to the use of the pulley,though in another place he mentions it in connection with the treat-ment of fracture of the spine, and we shall see several instances of itsuse for converting the direction of motion in machines for the reductionof dislocations. In one of these, the machine of Fabrus, a system of pulleys is ar-ranged to give a considerable increase of power, so that it is not unlikelythat block and tackle arranged to multiply power would be used as well,although we have no direct description of such. We may note that Scultetus (Tab. xxi) illustrate
Size: 1275px × 1961px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublish, booksubjectmedicine
