transverse section may be between about 3 and 6 mm preferably about 4 5 mm for one intended for an adult male femur in proportion to a length of the nail of between 1 60 to 1 110 and proportionally less for bones of lesser over all length since the femur is the longest bone in the body the lengths and diameters of nails for use in other bones of the body or of such as of females and children will decrease generally proportionally as for instance between 3 and 4 mm for the humerus and tibia since as previously explained a plurality of nails may be employed in one operation the actual effective diameter is to be calculated and may in fact vary in accordance with the preference of the surgeon one surgeon might prefer to use a single nail of greater diameter while another might choose to use two or more of lesser diameter irrespective of the over all length the linear extents of the various curved and straight sections or portions of any particular nail the relation or proportions between those portions will remain about the same the point formed at the proximal end a is preferably formed to lie in a plane about 45 u00b0 to the tangent at that point and has its edges rounded off to enable and assure free and unimpeded passage of this end in and along the canal as is apparent from fig1 and 2 the plane of the cut end is essentially normal to the.