CHAPTER VII.

NATURAL BONE-SETTERS, 146

Setting of bones wholly mechanical. There cannot be an _innate_ skill in this, any more than there can be in any other kind of mechanics. Explanation of bone-setting. Skill obtained in this just as in anything else. Bone-setter _learns_ all that he actually knows, by his own observation, and from others. It is not _born_ with him. Gets some of his knowledge by stealth. _Errors committed by natural bone-setters._ Supposing a fracture to be a dislocation. Injuries of joints in which there is neither dislocation nor fracture—harm sometimes done in such cases by the bone-setter. Failure in the _medical_ part of the treatment in some cases. Failure in the management of fractures. Physicians not all good bone-setters. Mechanical tact requisite. Though so many cases of mal-practice can be found among the patients of natural bone-setters, generally supposed by the community to be infallible. Difficulty in getting a verdict of damages against them. _Reasons why they, in spite of their errors, acquire a reputation for skill._ Setting sprains. Facility of the imposition practised. Breaking up old adhesions. Stiff joints and contracted tendons—efficacy of rubbing. Imagined tenderness and inability of motion. Sub-luxations—random pulling. False reports of cases.