Probably the most remarkable feature of this curious accident was the fact that there was no fracture or injury to the bone, and it was thought possible that the function of the arm would be but little impaired.
Tousey reports a case of foreign body in the axilla that was taken for a necrotic fragment of the clavicle.

The patient was a boy of sixteen, who climbed up a lamp-post to get a light for his bicycle lamp; his feet slipped off the ornamental ledge which passed horizontally around the post about four feet from the ground, and he fell.

In the fall a lead pencil in his waistcoat pocket caught on the ledge and was driven into the axilla, breaking off out of sight.

This was supposed to be a piece of the clavicle, and was only discovered to be a pencil when it was removed six weeks after.
There are several diseases of the bone having direct bearing on the anomalies of the extremities which should have mention here.
Osteomalacia is a disease of the bones in adult life, occurring most frequently in puerperal women, but also seen in women not in the puerperal state, and in men.

It is characterized by a progressive softening of the bone-substance, from a gradual absorption of the lime salts, and gives rise to considerable deformity, and occasionally to spontaneous fracture.
Rachitis or rickets is not a disease of adult life, but of infancy and childhood, and never occurs after the age of puberty.