v.] 



SKELETON OF LOWER LIMB. 



183 



etu- 



one for the knee-pan. Posteriorly they diverge, leaving 

 between them a space called the inter-condyloid fossa. The 

 femur does not articulate with the fibula. 



The knee-pan, or PATELLA, is a small bone somewhat tri- 

 angular, yet rounded in outline, con- 

 vex in front and with two articular 

 surfaces (to fit to the condyles of the 

 femur) behind. 



It is attached above by its broad 

 upper margin to the tendon of the 

 front muscle of the thigh/ Below, a 

 ligament goes from its pointed lower 

 end to the upper part of the shin-bone. 



4. The TIBIA, or shin-bone, is, like 

 the femur, an elongated bone, more 

 so than any other in the human body 

 except the femur. It transmits the 

 whole weight of the body to the foot. 



Its upper end is very wide, and 

 presents two concave articular sur- 

 faces (condyles) which receive the 

 two condyles of the femur and be- 

 tween them an eminence (the spine), 

 behind which is a pit giving insertion 

 to one end of one of the crucial 

 ligaments which connect the femur 

 with the tibia. These ligaments pass, 

 one from the pit just mentioned to 

 the outer side of the inner condyle of 

 the femur, while the other goes from 

 the front of the spine of the tibia to 

 the inner side of the outer condyle of 

 the femur. Two inter-articular carti- 

 lages, called semilunar, are also 

 interposed between the cartilaginous 

 articular surfaces of the femur and 

 those of the tibia. 



Two other ligaments may be noted. 

 One, the internal lateral ligament, 



goes from the internal tuberosity of the femur to the inner 

 surface of the tibia ; and the other, the external lateral 

 ligament, goes from the outer tuberosity of the femur to the 

 fibula. 



The shaft of the tibia is triangular in section, being pro- 



FIG. 156. FRONT VIEW OF 

 RIGHT TIBIA AND FIBULA 

 OF MAN. 



c, crest of the tibia ; em, ex 

 ternal malleolus ; e tu, ex 

 ternal tuberosity ;f, fibula 

 /z, head of the fibula ; im 

 internal malleolus ; itu, in 

 ternal tuberosity ; s, spine 

 of the tibia ; t, tubercle. 



