The simplest and shortest rule that can be given for the amputation of a toe, with the part or whole of its metatarsal, is to make one dorsal incision, commencing about a quarter of an inch above the spot at which you intend to divide the bone or to disarticulate, extending downwards in a straight line to the metatarso-phalangeal articulation, and then bifurcating so as to surround the base of the toe at the normal fold of the skin. The soft parts are then to be cleared from the metatarso-phalangeal joint, and the toe still being retained on the metatarsal bone, it should be carefully dissected up, avoiding any pricking of the soft parts below, till the joint is reached, or the spot at which the bone-pliers are to be applied is fully cleared. AMPUTATION OF THE ANTERIOR PORTION OF THE FOOT AT THE TARSO-METATARSAL JOINT--HEY'S OPERATION.--This operation, which is now comparatively rarely performed, has been invested with a halo of difficulty and complexity which is to a great extent unnecessary. There is no doubt that the anatomical conformation of the joints involved, especially the manner in which the head of the second metatarsal (Fig. V. C) projects upwards into the tarsus, and is locked between the cuneiform bones, renders disarticulation in the healthy foot rather difficult; but it must be remembered that in cases where for accident we have to deal with previously healthy tissues, it is quite unnecessary to disarticulate, a better result being attained by simply sawing the foot across in the line of the articulation; and again, where we have to operate for disease, the tissues are so matted, and the bones so soft, that complete removal of the metatarsus is much easier than it appears when practising on the dead subject. Very various plans of incision have been proposed. Mr. Hey's original procedure has not been much improved upon. His short account of it has at once surgical value and historical interest:--