Page:A Treatise on the Diseases of the Bones.djvu/48

in many instances there is merely a fibro-cartilaginous deposite on the fractured surfaces, and the two extremities of the bone thus coated with cartilaginous matter, play freely on each other, and form what has been termed a false joint. Some bones will unite, although the fractured surfaces are not in juxtaposition, while others will not unite, unless they are retained in close apposition. Nay, very strong arguments have been brought forward to prove that fractures do occasionally take place in some situations which are seldom or never followed by ossific union; I allude more especially to fracture of the neck of the thigh-bone occurring within the reflected synovial membrane of the hip-joint. Some practitioners assert that a bony union has never taken place between the fractured extremities in that situation, while others as confidently state that it has. This question has given rise to a controversy which has agitated the schools for many years past, and appears to be still as far from being set at rest, as when the controversy commenced. But as this question may form a subject of little interest to the younger student, I shall throw the few re-