The blanket should be torn into strips about a foot square, and folded thrice, thus making a long soft pad to line the axilla, one for each armpit. The patient is next seated on a stool; an assistant standing behind, draws back the shoulder while he presses on the spine with his knee; the dislocation being reduced, the surgeon fixes the bone by a figure of 8 carried round the shoulders and across the back. The forearm is then bent and fastened to the body by a few turns of the roller round it and the chest. This prevents the pectorals from acting on the bone. The apparatus may be laid aside at the end of a week, but the arm must be fixed to the trunk for a fortnight longer. This bone is often difficult to keep in place after dislocation, and even the most accurately fitted apparatus sometimes fails to effect its object, hence many varieties of collar and yoke have been devised by different surgeons to accomplish this purpose. =The Shoulder= is dislocated in three directions, downwards, inwards, and backwards. These have subordinate varieties, but the signs depend chiefly on the direction of the greatest displacement. Signs of dislocation into the _axilla_. When the bone is displaced below the glenoid fossa the acromion is prominent; underneath it, the surgeon feels a hollow instead of the head of the humerus, which the finger detects in the axilla. Movement of the shoulder is very limited and painful If the elbow is rotated while the finger is in the armpit, the head will be found to move with the rest of the bone. If the head of the bone is carried more _inwards_ on to the ribs, it can be seen and felt near the clavicle; the hollow is again readily detected below the acromion, while the axis of the arm is altered, being directed inside its proper position. When the bone is carried _backwards_ the head is plainly felt on the scapula below the spine. For the reduction of these dislocations several plans are employed. When recent the two first displacements can generally be restored without chloroform, but if the patient is muscular it often saves time and pain to produce anesthesia before attempting to replace the bone. [Illustration: Fig. 61.—Reducing a dislocated shoulder by the heel in the armpit.]