Reproduction
Object numberRCSHC/34
Scientific nameHomo sapiens
CollectionHunterian
CategoryWet preparations
Object nameBiceps brachi muscle, Atrophy, Physiological adaptation, Wasting and Modelling, Organs of Motion, Mounted wet tissue
DescriptionTwo biceps muscles, the left showing adaptive atrophy due a change in limb length.
Following a non-reduced fracture of the upper arm the bone healed to produce a limb of reduced length. With time the bicep on this side adapted its length to restore action to the limb, reducing in length by six inches.
The patient in this case was a man who had suffered a fracture of the upper arm some thirty years before his death. The fracture had not been set, and the overlapping broken ends of the humerus had fused together, leaving the patient with one arm shorter than the other. Although the patient had initially been unable to flex the broken arm, over time the biceps muscle had compensated and had become shorter, allowing some function to be regained. Hunter used this specimen to demonstrate to his students that living tissue was able to adapt to changes resulting from injury or disease, a point which he also established through experiments on animals (see related records). In the case of human patients, Hunter suggested that this process of natural adaptation was sometimes sufficient to effect recovery without the need for a more dramatic form of surgical intervention, such as amputation, which might place the patient's life at risk.
Production date Estimated 1760 - Estimated 1793
Preparator
Owner/user
presented
Related objectsRCSHC/P 82RCSHC/523
Physical Location
LocationOn display in the Hunterian Museum, Room 4: The Long Gallery
Physical Information
Physical descriptionWet preparation of soft tissue mounted in an oval glass jar with glass lid. Dimensions: 368mm h x 133mm w x 88mm d. 3428g.
Materialglass (material), Kaiserling III, silicone
Dimensions
whole height: 368 mm
whole width: 133 mm
whole depth: 88 mm
whole weight: 3428 g
whole width: 133 mm
whole depth: 88 mm
whole weight: 3428 g
Bibliography
SourceDobson 1970-71
Vol. 1, page 37.
NotesText taken from Shattock (1909-19), Proger (1882-5), and Paget (1882-5).
TranscriptThe biceps humeri muscles of a negro. That of the left side is adaptively shortened by one half, as a result of the diminished length of the humerus which followed in the repair of an oblique fracture. The fracture was sustained when the patient was about thirty years of age and some years before he died.
SourceHome 1814b
Vol. 1, page 41.
NotesA description of the case in which following fracture of the humerus the muscles in the foreshortened limb adapted their length to allow flexion of the arm.
