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DISLOCATION OF THE JAW, &c.

All that is necessary after the reduction, is to apply cloths diptin vinegar or camphorated spirits of wine to the part, and to keepit perfectly easy. Many bad consequences proceed from the neg-lect of this rule. A dislocation seldom happens without the ten-dons and ligaments of the joint being stretched, and sometimes torn.When these are kept easy till they recover their strength and tone,all goes on very well; but if the injury be increased by too fre-quent an exertion of the parts, no wonder if they be found weakand diseased ever after.

Dislocation op the Jaw.

The lower jaw may be luxated by yawning, blows, falls, chew-ing hard substances, or the like. It is easily known from the pa-tient's being unable to shut his mouth or to eat any thing', as theteeth of the under jaw do not correspond with those of the upper;besides, the chin either hangs down or is thrown towards one side,and the patient is neither able to speak distinctly, nor to swallowwithout considerable difficulty.

The usual method of reducing a dislocated jaw, is to set thepatient upon a low stool, so as an assistant may hold the head firmby pressing it against his breast. The operator is then to thrusthis two thumbs, being first wrapt up with linen cloths that theymay not slip, as far back into the patient's mouth as he can, whilehis fingers are applied to the jaw externally. After he has gotfirm hold of the jaw, he is to press it strongly downwards andbackwards, by which means the elapsed heads of the jaw may beeasily pushed into their former cavities.

The peasants in some parts of the country have a peculiar wayof performing- this operation. One of them puts a handkerchiefunder the patient's chin, then turning his back to that of thepatient, pulls him "up by the chin, so as to suspend him from theground. This method often succeeds, but we think it a dangerousone, therefore recommend the former.

Dislocation of the Neck.

The neck may be dislocated by falls, violent blows, or the like.*In this case, if the patient receives no assistance, he soon dies,which makes people imagine the neck was broken ; it is, however,for the most part, only partially dislocated, and may be reduced byalmost any person who has resolution enough to attempt it. Acomplete dislocation of the neck is instantaneous death.

When the neck is dislocated, the patient is immediately deprivedof all sense and motion ; his neck swells, his countenance appears

* The os occipitis, and first cervical vertebra, are so firmly connected by ligament«,that there is no instance of their being luxated from an external cause, and were theaccident to happen, it would immediately prove fatal by the unavoidable compressionand injury of the spinal marrow; and in dislocations of the first cervical vertebra fromthe second, patients can hardly be expected to survive a mischief of this kind in sohigh a situation ; when the transverse ligament is broken, and the dentated process isthrown directly backward against the medulla oblongata, the effect must be instantdeath, as happened in a case lately related by Mr. C. Bell. All dislocations of theneck in which the processus dentatus is displaced are immediately fatal, although luxations of the oblique cervical processes lower down may be reduced. Éd.

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