A treatise on dislocations and on fractures of the joints : Fractures of the neck of the thigh-bone

Sir Astley Paston Cooper (1768–1841) was the leading surgeon of London in his day (Fig. 1). He was probably John Hunter’s most prominent pupil and Guy’s Hospital’s most popular personage (see Vol. 42, 1965 for his biographical note). Although Paré described fractures of the hip his observations other than diagnostic were not contributive. Cooper not only described the fracture but added the classic discussion of its major problem, the circulation of the femoral head and the circumstance of what subsequently became known as its vascular necrosis.