This paper will treat the subject of simple fractures of the shaft of the femur in a general manner, laying down the principles applicable to the management of fractures in the several regions of the bone, or divisions ordinarily designated in the study and treatment of fractures of the femur. Thirteen per cent of all fractures which come to our hospital as the result of industrial establishment, highroad, and railroad accidents, are fractures of the femur: 23 per cent is the ratio in military service. In the United States and Canada, about one-half of these fractures occur in the middle third of the bone, and about one-quarter each in the upper and lower thirds. By far the largest number of fractures occur in men in the age period 25–50 years, the active working period of a man's life. Over 80 per cent of fractures of the femur in civil life are produced by indirect violence; they are brought about by incoordinate leverage. When a break in the continuity of the largest and strongest bone in the human ske...