ANATOMICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. XI 



fascia lata attached to tlie hamstring tendons on either hand is 

 relaxed. 



From these considerations it will be seen that an enlarged so-called 

 semimembranosus bursa which is attached to the internal condyle of 

 the femur will be withdrawn into the depths of the space and will 

 become flaccid and less obvious through the general relaxation of the 

 parts and the increase in the capacity of the space in which it is 

 contained. /:: : ••• 



When the knee is fully extended the floor of the space comes 

 almost into contact with the roof, not only because the angle between 

 the femur and tibia has now become a straight line, but also because 

 the prominent posterior extremities of the condyles of the femur have 

 rotated back upon the head of the tibia and now project practically 

 beneath the skin covering the space. The vessels and nerves are 

 accommodated in the narrow digital fossa between the condyles. 



The sides of the space are now very shallow, for the hamstring 

 tendons for the most part lie along the sides of the condyles, whilst 

 the roof of the fascia is drawn tightly over the contents. 



Thus it comes to pass that the enlarged bursa is projected back- 

 wards by the internal condyle and rendered tense by the diminution 

 in capacity of the space and the general compression of the structures 

 in it. 



The only reliable sign of communication with the joint is that of 

 Erichsen — viz., to obliterate the cavity of the bursa by direct pressure 

 and show that there is then free fluid in the knee joint. 



Even this sign is of negative value, as the opening, when present, is 

 often small and tortuous, and the contents of the bursa are frequently 

 too thick to readily pass through it or melon seed bodies are present, 

 and block the narrow wav. 



V 



(5) Professor A. Macalister, F.R.S., showed the following speci- 

 mens :^- 



(i.) A specimen in which the timer ■•sesamoid heme of the great toe 

 ■was transversely divided, and thus appeared double. 



(ii.) A foetal skull in which the infraorbital margin of the malar 

 hone articulated with the hamulus lacrtjmalis. The condition is a 

 rare one, only two cases being hitherto recorded. 



(6) Mr F. G. Parsons showed a series of spleens illustrating the 

 various forms of fission found on the renal aspect. The communica- 

 tion is ])ublished at length in the Journal of Anatormi and Phydologij, 

 April 1901. 



(7) Mr Keith showed a specimen of a Doiihle Kidney, one kidney 

 being included in the other, and each having its own ureter (fig. 3, a). 

 The two ureters united half an inch above the vesical orifice. The 

 specimen, which was sent to the museum of the London Hospital by 

 Dr Schorstein, was that of a boy aged 8, and belonged to the right 

 side. The opposite kidney was normal. 



The specimen was interesting, because it seemed to show that the 



