In 1869 Volkmann described a contracted condition of the flexor muscles of the wrist, hand and fingers which he termed an ischemic paralysis, but which came to be known clinically as Volkmann's contracture. He believed at that time that the condition was due to a death of the muscle cells consequent on a prolonged deprivation of the blood from the part, or an interference with the circulation leading to a malnutrition and caused by pressure of a splint or bandage applied, for instance, in a case of fracture of the radius and ulna, or of the humerus near the elbow joint. He stated that very rarely did the condition follow an injury or a fracture in which neither a splint nor a bandage is used. This was true in one case seen by us, in which a contracture of the flexor tendons of the arm followed a trauma, a street-car