A remarkable example of the manner in which pressure-changes in the skeleton may reveal the labour-history of the individual / by W. Arbuthnot Lane.

  • Lane, William Arbuthnot, 1856-1943.
Date:
[1887]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A remarkable example of the manner in which pressure-changes in the skeleton may reveal the labour-history of the individual / by W. Arbuthnot Lane. 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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    (i) The small extent of angular movement permitted in the right elbow-joint, as compared to that of the left, and the knowledge we already possess that the load, while somewhat rigidly attached to the trunk, was carried in a semicircle around it, suggests that the load could not have been supported directly by both hands, but indirectly by means of some rigid support, as, for example, a load of any heavy material supported upon a spade or shovel, the handle of which was held in the right hand. Putting together the several movements that formed this suc- cession, I concluded that during the whole of his active life this man had been continually occupied in shovelling some material which was very coarse, in the sense of offering resistance to the passage of the spade through it, and also very heavy, from the level of the ground, and throwing it to some considerable distance behind him and to his left. The occupation of filling carts with gravel or coal then appeared to me to be the most likely, yet I was doubtful, from an observation of such labourers, whether such an occupation would give the very extensive and free rotation of the thorax which this skeleton apparently indicated. As I have been so frequently unsuccessful in my attempts at obtaining the labour-history of the individual, during his active life, from the authorities of the institutions from which our subjects come, I had neglected to write for information in this case. I then did so, and the medical officer very kindly informed me that his last occupation had been that of ship- keeper. By inquiring I then found out that among the men who were most frequently employed as shipkeepers were old ship’s-carpenters or trimmers, who had served for a long time and who had got good characters as being steady and good workmen. Now a ship’s carpenter would not have suited my purpose at all, for the reason that he is practically a jack-of-all- trades, and is not occupied in a sufficiently routine manner. However, the trimmer was just the man I wanted. As the reader is possibly as little familiar with the habits of this class of labourer as I was, I will briefly sketch out their form of labour. In the coaling of the ship the trimmer is a very important individual, for it is his duty to arrange the coal, after it has been thrown down, in such a manner that the ship’s