Flax mills : their machinery, accidents occurring therein, with suggestions for their prevention / by Thomas H. Babington.
- Babington, Thomas H.
- Date:
- 1866
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Flax mills : their machinery, accidents occurring therein, with suggestions for their prevention / by Thomas H. Babington. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![whicli I annex, as an illustration of the statements I have made, that these flax-mill accidents are attended with frightful conse- quences—maiming, mutilation, permanent disablement, and even loss of life. No. 1. W. B., aged twenty-four.—Left arm comminuted, con- tused, lacerated, elbow joint opened, lower extremity of humerus fractured. The fingers were caught in the rollers in an attempt to disentangle a portion of flax, the whole arm was dragged into the machinery, and was frightfully crushed and lacerated. Amputation four inches below shoulder-joint.'^ Recovered. No. 2. J. M.—Ulcerated stump, following amputation of right arm for injuries of a similar nature. No. 3. J. M. H , aged forty.—Right hand lacerated, fractured; wrist-joint laid open, ends of radius and ulna fractured. An attempt was made to save the hand; gangrene set in, amputation of fore-arm above the line of demarcation, on the seventh day after the accident. Tetanus set in on fifth day after the operation, and the twelfth from occurrence of the accident. Died on the fourteenth day from the commencement of tetanic symptoms. No. 4. John Dinsmore.—Entangled in rollers, caught by sleeve of his coat, whole hand and ai'm dragged in, all the bones fractured, and muscles lacerated, except the deltoid; axillary cavity laid open. Amputation at shoulder-joint. Recovered. No. 5. Mary M‘Neill, aged forty.—Attending the rollers, her fingers were caught and dragged in, all the fingers of right hand were crushed off; the machinery was working slowly, and she dragged her hand out, and actually pulled the median nerve almost from the root; several inches of it were hanging out of the wound. Tetanus set in on the eighth day after the accident, and she died on the seventh day, fifteen days from the occurrence of the injury. No. 6. J. M. Gr., aged fifty.—Compound fracture of three metacarpal bones from a blow of the “ wiper,” or scutching appa- ratus. ]\Iade a good recovery, but was under treatment from 15th January to 4th May. No. 7. J. S., aged thirty.—Similar accident to No. 6. Good recovery, after three months’ treatment. No. 8. J. P., aged seventeen.—Lacerated wounds of fore-arm, no fracture. Recovery after tAvo months’ treatment. No. 9. J. L., aged fifteen.—Compound and comminuted fracture of fore-arm and humerus, dragged into the rollers. Arm amputated. Recovery.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22331530_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
