Volume 1

General and descriptive anatomy of the domestic animals / by John Gamgee and James Law.

Date:
1861-1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: General and descriptive anatomy of the domestic animals / by John Gamgee and James Law. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Ox. Tibia bent. A small bone at the lower end is a part of the fibula. Pig. Tibia very prismatical. Fibula flat and long. Ossification of the fibula. Carnivora. Tibia. The fibula. Differences in the hones of the leg.—In ruminants the tibia is remarkable for being more twisted upon itself than in the horse, also for its being bent with an anterior concavity. It has no facet on the external, and no groove on the anterior tuberosity. The lower articular surface is most prominent internally ,and its articulating cavities are arranged in an antero-posterior, and not in an oblique direction, as in the horse. The external malleolus is detached, and forms a separate bone, representing the lower end of the fibula, and articulating above with the tibia, below with the astragalus and os calcis. The fibula is farther represented by a fibrous cord, extend- ing from the upper to the lower extremity of the bone, and not unfrequently ossified in part or in whole. The patella is relatively smaller than in solipeds. In the pig the tibia closely resembles that of the smaller ruminants. It is, however, less twisted, less bent, and more prismatical. The tibial crest is very prominent. The fibula flattened from side to side, extends throughout, the whole length of the tibia, to which it is united interiorly by a diarthrodial facet, superiorly by a roughened facet, with interosseous ligaments; its shaft is separated by a narrow interval. It has three centres of ossification, one for the body and one for each extremity. The part developed from the lower centre cor- responds in form, position, and articulations with the small separate bone in the ox. The tibia of the dog and cat is long and thin, with a superior and an inferior curve in opposite directions. The tibial crest is very sharp and salient. The tibial spine little marked. On the postero- external aspect of each extremity is a diarthrodial facet, by which it joins the fibula. The fibula, a long slender bone, flattened and twisted on itself in its median part, has on each extremity a diarthrodial facet, by which it joins those on the tibia, and on its lower half a rough internal surface for interosseous ligament, which binds it closely to the tibia. Its lower extremity articulates with the astragalus. Like in the pig, this bone is developed from three ossific centres. THE POSTEEIOE FOOT (DISTAL ELEMENT). The posterior foot may be looked upon as comprising the tarsus, the metatarsus, and the phalanges, in the same way as the anterior foot is composed of the corresponding parts of the fore extremity.