534 MAMMALIAN ANATOMY 



and above the middle is divided into two unequal parts by an oblique 

 ridge which runs from the inner surface downward to the outer surface. 

 Its upper portion, which comprises about two-fifths of the entire length 

 of the border, is bevelled at the expense of the outer surface to form 

 a narrow, flattened triangle facing outward and backward and giving 

 origin to the teres major muscle. The larger lower portion of the 

 border is bevelled at the expense of the inner surface, presenting a 

 long, narrow strip, concave transversely, and facing inward and back- 

 ward. It is pointed above and more deeply excavated below, where 

 it is continuous with the vertebral surface of the neck and head. For 

 most of its extent it gives origin to the posterior part of the subscapu- 

 laris muscle, but on its lower end to the upper, or dorsal, part of the 

 tendon common to the teres minor and the scapular head of the triceps. 

 At the lower end of this border are several vascular foramina. 



Of the three angles of the scapula, the inferior angle is at the 

 junction of the vertebral and axillary borders, which if produced 

 would form a right angle ; the superior angle, the meeting point of 

 the vertebral and anterior superior border, is an obtuse angle, and is 

 not prominent. The anterior angle is truncate, and is known as the 

 head. 



The Neck (Figs. 418, 419) of the scapula is the constriction which 

 divides the body from the head. It is little more than a line encircling 

 the bone. It is marked in front as the deepest point of emargination 

 of the suprascapular notch, and on the outer surface by a more or less 

 well defined groove which passes below the root of the lower edge of 

 the spine. The neck gives attachment to the capsular ligament of the 

 shoulder joint. Below the neck the surfaces of the scapula rise in all 

 directions to form the head. 



The Head of the scapula (Figs. 418, 419, 421, 422) occupies the 

 anterior angle of the bone. It is the thickest part of the scapula, but 

 is not much longer from before backward than the neck. It gives 

 off from its anterior inner part the curved finger-like coracoid process. 

 The head presents for examination four surfaces and one border. 



The lower surface (Fig. 422) is pear-shaped ; the transverse 

 diameter is a third less than the antero-posterior diameter ; the smaller 

 end points forward, joining the lower end of the anterior border. The 

 lower surface is entirely occupied by a moderately deep glenoid cavity 

 for articulation with the rounded head of the humerus. 



