Part 4
The bone in the head is liable to be wounded in the following modes, and there
are many varieties in each of these modes of fracture: When a wounded
bone breaks, in the bone comprehending the fissure, contusion necessarily
takes place where the bone is broken; for an instrument that breaks
the bone occasions a contusion thereof more or less, both at the fracture
and in the parts of the bone surrounding the fracture. This is the
first mode. But there are all possible varieties of fissures; for
some of them are fine, and so very fine that they cannot be discovered,
either immediately after the injury, or during the period in which
it would be of use to the patient if this could be ascertained. And
some of these fissures are thicker and wider, certain of them being
very wide. And some of them extend to a greater, and some to a smaller,
distance. And some are more straight, nay, completely straight; and
some are more curved, and that in a remarkable degree. And some are
deep, so as to extend downwards and through the whole bone; and some
are less so, and do not penetrate through the whole bone.