muscles being separated to this height from the bone with the point of a knife, the soft parts must all be supported with the leather retractors till the bone is sawn," etc., arteries tied, and dressings applied.[47] AMPUTATION OF THIGH BY RECTANGULAR FLAP--(Teale's).--I take the opportunity here of describing fully, and as far as possible in his own words, Mr. Teale's method of amputating, this being the situation where his method is most frequently available. The same principle may be applied to amputations at almost any other part of the body. After advising the surgeon to mark out the proposed line of incision with ink before the operation, he gives the following directions for fixing the exact size of the flap:--"Supposing the amputation to take place (Plate II. figs. 9, 10) at the lower part of the middle third of the thigh, the circumference of the limb is to be measured at the point where the bone is to be divided.[48] Assuming this to be sixteen inches, the long flap is to have its length and breadth each equal to half the circumference, namely, eight inches. Two longitudinal lines of this extent are then traced on the limb, and are met at their lower points by a transverse line of the same length. The inner longitudinal line should be first traced in ink as near as practicable to the femoral vessels, without including them within the range of the long flap. The outer longitudinal line, which is somewhat posterior, is next marked eight inches distant from the former and parallel to it. These two lines are then joined by a transverse line of the same extent, which falls upon the upper border of the patella, or upon some lower portion of this bone. The short flap is indicated by a transverse line passing behind the thigh, the length of this flap being one-fourth that of the long one; or, assuming the circumference of the limb to be sixteen inches, and the length of the long flap eight inches, the length of the short flap is two inches. The operator begins by making the two lateral incisions of the long flap through the _integuments only_. The transverse incision of this flap, supposing it to run along the upper edge of the patella, is made by a free sweep of the knife through the skin and tendinous structures down to the femur. Should the lower transverse line of the flap fall across the middle or lower part of the patella, the transverse incision can extend through the skin only, which must be dissected up as far as the upper border of the patella, at which place the tendinous structures are to be cut direct to the thigh-bone. The flap is completed by cutting the fleshy structures from below upwards close to the bone. The posterior short flap, containing the large vessels and nerves, is made by _one sweep_ of the knife down to the bone, the soft parts being afterwards separated from the bone close to the periosteum, as far upwards as the intended place of sawing.... In