Must all these Signs appear before a Determination can be made of the necessity of using the Trepan?
No, it is sufficient to have the Univocal Signs to make a Crucial Incision in the place of the Wound, and to lay bare the Bone, in order to observe the Fracture, which sometimes is so fine, that the Operator is oblig'd to make use of Ink, which insinuates it self into the Cleft, and of a particular Instrument, with which the black Line that hath penetrated to the bottom, cannot be rubb'd out; whereas it may be easily defac'd when the Fracture is only superficial.
How long time is commonly spent before the appearing of the Accidents?
In the Summer Season they appear in three or four Days, and at the latest in seven; in Winter
they are slower, and sometimes do not happen till the fourteenth Day: But at the end of this term, it may be affirm'd that the Trepan is often unprofitable.
What is requisite to be done in a doubtful Occasion; Must the Trepan be apply'd or omitted?
The Surgeon is to have recourse to his own conscientious Discretion, which ought to serve as a Guide, and requires that we should always act according to the known Rules of Art; insomuch that after having well consider'd the Accidents, with all the Circumstances of the Wound, if there be no good grounds for the undertaking of the Operation, it is expedient to desist, and in this case to have deference to the Advice of other able Surgeons of the same Society, rather than to rely too much upon his own Judgment, to the end that he may be always secure from all manner of Blame.
Is the Trepan apply'd upon the Fracture?
No; but on one side of it, and always in a firm place.
What Course is to be taken when a Fracture is found in a Suture?