CHAPTER VI 

 MUSCLES OF THE RIGHT INFERIOR LIMB 



Despite the fact that the pelvic girdle and inferior limb are 

 essentially homologous with the pectoral girdle and superior 

 limb, the attachment of the two girdles is decidedly different, 

 for the pelvic girdle is attached to the axial skeleton primarily 

 by ligaments which allow limited movement. The psoas 

 major m. (65a) plays a relatively indirect part in attaching the 

 innominate bone to the vertebrae, for it is essentially related to 

 the thigh and hip joint. The musculature of the hip joint is 

 far more complicated than that of the shoulder joint. Among 

 the more striking differences in the musculature of the hip of 

 man and rabbit should be mentioned that of the gluteus max- 

 imus m. (;^6) which is very large in man and forms most of the 

 bulk of the natis, or buttock; while in the rabbit this muscle is 

 insignificant in bulk and is placed mainly mediad to the greater 

 trochanter of the femur. Since the student has already dis- 

 sected the muscles of the shoulder in considerable detail, and 

 because of the limited amount of time available for this work, 

 it is not advisable to follow the more nearly complete outline 

 employed in Chapter V in the dissection of the muscles of the 

 inferior Hmb. 



Method: Continue the median incision through the skin cau- 

 dad, passing about half an inch to the right of the genitalia and 

 anus, to a point laterad of the anus. Also make a cut from 

 the mid- ventral incision at a point about one inch craniad to the 

 mons pubis, along the medial side of the limb just well past 

 the knee; then free the crus at this point by cutting the skin 

 around the leg so that the distal two-thirds of the leg and foot will 

 remain covered by intact skin. Reflex the skin of the thigh 

 dorsolaterad to the mid-dorsal line. 



60 



