McComber's tracks for 1883. : Comprising descriptions of McComber's institution for the radical cure of foot distortions by conservative surgery, and also of McComber's fashionable army and navy shoes for ladies and gentlemen.

  • McComber, Joel
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: McComber's tracks for 1883. : Comprising descriptions of McComber's institution for the radical cure of foot distortions by conservative surgery, and also of McComber's fashionable army and navy shoes for ladies and gentlemen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    club-foot, and it iieTer/can. To seyer the fibrous cord called a tendon/’ by which the muscle is attached, is, of course, to practi¬ cally destroy the whole of the muscle, since a muscle haying one loose end is of no practical use. Conseiwatiye surgery” means, to saye the muscle instead of sacrific¬ ing it ; to giye added strength and contrac¬ tile power to the weak and feeble one, and proyides the distorted foot with means by which eyery fibre and tissue may put forth its best powers for the restoration of the structure to symmetry and harmonious deyelopment. There are thousands of chil¬ dren born annually whose soles turn inward, and face the inner aspect of the leg; they are held thus by the contraction of the inner muscles and the inaction of the oyer stretched extensor ones. The common surgical method is to relieye the inner muscle by seyering its tendon; then the attempt is made to hold the foot in normal position by irons. This is the most stupid of errors ; it simply giyes the poor little patient two worthless muscles in¬ stead of the one proyided by misguided nature. Suppose now, that instead of this barbarity we proyide for the foot a shoe so constructed that at eyery ste]) it is Gompelled to plant itself squarely upon the sole^ what is the result ? G-radually the long contracted and short¬ ened inner muscles are stretched and length¬ ened, and as gradually the elongated and flaccid outer ones accpaire natural contractile power, and by this muscular co-ordination nature’s error is completely remedied. The
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