190 MOKBID ANATOMY.
there was little or no pain. Died in 1846, after a short sickness, seventeen months after the accident. 1856.
Dr. H. J. Bigelow.
1090. Old and ununited fracture of the neck of the femur ; a portion of the pelvis being preserved with the bone. Pre- pared by Dr. Cheever. In spirit, and described by Dr. Bigelow :
" This specimen shows in a remarkable manner the ilio- femoral or Y ligament, and the obturator internus muscle, in their relations to the displaced bone, in a case of old and unimpacted fracture of the neck of the femur. The neck is wholly absorbed, leaving within the socket, to rep- resent the head of the bone, a movable hemisphere, with a smooth, flat, external surface. In direct contact with this is the shaft of the femur, which, by attrition, has become excavated. The whole neck having been absorbed, the fe- mur slides upon the flattened head to the extent of an inch or two ; the contiguous fibro-cartilaginous surfaces being quite smooth.
" A point of great interest in this specimen is the mech- anism by which this motion is limited. The patient stand- ing in an upright position, the weight of the body was of course suspended by the ligamentous fibres. Upon careful dissection, these are found to consist, in part, of the cap- sule of the joint, and in part of the obturator internus muscle ; each of which may be here separately described. The capsule of the joint, while thin upon its lower aspect, and contributing little to the support of the body, is quite thick at its upper part ; the Y ligament being developed in a remarkable manner. Although the lower branch of the Y, usually described as the ilio-femoral ligament, and commonly the stronger of the two, is here comparatively atrophied, the outer and upper branch is hypertrophied to a remarkable degree, and has obviously been the princi- pal agent in suspending the weight of the body. A curious confirmation is thus afforded of the existence of this outer band, which I have elsewhere described as playing so im- portant a part in dislocations of the hip. The outer and upper part of the capsule is also somewhat developed.
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