Note 74 — DISSERTATION II. CONTINUED. (continued 3)

It is very seldom that a stump unites at first, if amputation be performed on account of mortification; at least if the operation be not delayed until the health and strength be fully re-established: But this can very seldom be the case; for, in most cases, the state of the bones, and the disease of the part itself, prevents recovery from taking place beyond a certain degree, and also prevents us from delaying beyond a limited time. The system, therefore, is not allowed to recover fully from the tendency to the action of descent, and union does not take place. In the case which was formerly mentioned, the first stump did not adhere fully, but the second succeeded better, because then the system suffered more from the state of the diseased bones, &c. than from the previous mortification, and, therefore, it had not the same inability to undergo the healing action.