On the mechanism and motions of the human foot and leg / by John Cross.

  • Cross, John.
Date:
1819
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the mechanism and motions of the human foot and leg / by John Cross. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    of excessive size generally derive their magni« tude from the soleus; and hence the grossness descends considerably in the leg. In calves of moderate size, whose greatest swell is a little below the ham, the gastrocnemius is generally in the most sizeable and vigorous condition. In- deed, in a well-formed leg the double belly of the gastrocnemius may be seen on the upper half of the calf, swelling into greater distinctness dur- ing that part of the step when the body is thrown forward. The lengthened calf therefore comes to indicate the cautious deliberate character, while the short calf, situated high in the leg, and assuming less or more, the shape of a ball, be- speaks the less cautious, but the more energetic character. The extensors of the foot, therefore, may be divided into three sets—into that large muscle which by an insertion in the tuberosity of the heel simply extends the foot, in the indi- rect method of raising the hind part for the pur- pose of pulling downward the fore pai't, and with a force proportionate to its own dimensions, (for whose enlargement there is indefinite scope,) and to the length of its lever, (for whose elonga- tion there is also indefinite scope,)—into those three muscles which by insertion into the body