one may be bent, or only partly broken, or split. This is called "a
green-stick fracture," from its resemblance to a half-broken green stick.
This fracture is more common in the bones of children.

Fractures may be caused by direct violence, as when a bone is broken at a
certain point by some powerful force, as a blow from a baseball bat or a
fall from a horse. Again, a bone may be broken by indirect violence, as
when a person being about to fall, throws out his hand to save himself.
The force of the fall on the hand often breaks the wrist, by which is
meant the fracture of the lower end of the radius, often known as the
"silver-fork fracture." This accident is common in winter from a fall or
slip on the ice.

Sometimes bones are broken at a distance from the point of injury, as in a
fracture of the ribs by violent compression of the chest; or fracture may
occur from the vibration of a blow, as when a fall or blow upon the top of
the head produces fracture of the bones at the base of the brain.[6]

61. Treatment for Broken Bones. When a bone is broken a surgeon is
needed to set it, that is, to bring the broken parts into their natural
position, and retain them by proper appliances. Nature throws out between
and around the broken ends of bones a supply of repair material known as
plastic lymph, which is changed to fibrous tissue, then to cartilage, and
finally to bone. This material serves as a sort of cement to hold the
fractured parts together. The excess of this at the point of union can be
felt under the skin for some time after the bone is healed.

With old people a broken bone is often a serious matter, and may cripple
them for life or prove fatal. A trifling fall, for instance, may cause a
broken hip (popularly so called, though really a fracture of the neck of
the femur), from the shock of which, and the subsequent pain and
exhaustion, an aged person may die in a few weeks. In young people,
however, the parts of a broken bone will knit together in three or four
weeks after the fracture is reduced; while in adults, six or even more may
be required for firm union. After a broken bone is strong enough to be
used, it is fragile for some time; and great care must be taken,
especially with children, that the injured parts may not be broken again
before perfect union takes place.[7]

62. The Effect of Alcohol upon the Bones. While the growth of the
bones occurs, of course, mainly during the earlier years of life, yet