ahams ("British Medical
Journal," February 22, 1896). A lad of nineteen, who had injured his
little finger in catching a cricket ball, had the last joint of the
finger bent at a slight angle, and he could neither flex nor extend it.
Any attempt to do so caused great pain. The diagnosis was made of a
fracture extending into the joint, and that the joint having become
ossified, nothing short of amputation would give relief. Mr. Sydney
Rowland skiagraphed the hand, and showed that there was only a bridge of
bone uniting the last two joints of the finger. An anaesthetic was
administered, and with very little force the bridge of bone was snapped,
the finger saved, and the normal use of the hand restored.

Deformities of bone can be admirably shown. Thus Figure 9 ("British
Medical Journal," February 15, 1896) shows the deformity of the last two
toes of the foot, due to the wearing of tight shoes. (Owing to the
accidental breaking of the plate, only a part of the foot is shown.) The
lady whose foot was thus skiagraphed stated that she had suffered
tortures from her boots, so that walking became a penance, and she even
wanted the toes amputated. Relief was obtained by wearing broad-toed
boots, which gave room for the deformed toes. Another admirable
illustration of a similar use of the method is seen in Figure 2, from a
case of Professor Mosetig in Vienna. The last joint of the great toe was
double the ordinary size, and by touch it was recognized that there were
two bones instead of one. The difficulty was to determine which was the
normal bone, and which the extra bone that ought to be removed. The
moment the skiagraph was taken, it was very clear which bone should be
removed. Bony tumors elsewhere can also be diagnosticated and properly
treated. Possibly, also, we may be able to determine the presence of
dead bone, though I am not aware of any such skiagraphs having been
taken.

[Illustration: FIGURE 8.--SKIAGRAPH OF THE LEFT FOREARM OF A LIVING
SUBJECT, SHOWING AT THE POINT MARKED "B" A DEFORMITY FROM AN OLD
FRACTURE.

(Taken at the State Physical Laboratory, Hamburg, and published in the
"British Medical Journal.")]

Diseases and injuries of the joints will be amenable to examination by
this method. Figure 10 shows an elbow joint with tuberculous disease.
The bones of the arm and forearm are clearly seen, and between them, is
a light area due to granulation-tissue, or to fluid, probably of
tuberculous nature, which is