244 



OSTEOLOGY 





Obturator internus 



and Oemelli 

 Piriformis 



Tubercle 



Articular capsule 



Articular capsule 



Adductor 

 tubercle 



Medial 

 cpicondyle 



FIG. 244. Right femur. Anterior surface. 



groove lodges the orbicular fibers 

 of the capsule of the hip-joint. 

 The posterior surface is smooth, and 

 is broader and more concave than 

 the anterior: the posterior part of 

 the capsule of the hip-joint is 

 attached to it about 1 cm. above 

 the intertrochanteric crest. The 

 superior border is short and thick, 

 and ends laterally at the greater 

 trochanter; its surface is perforated 

 by large foramina. The inferior 

 border, long and narrow, curves a 

 little backward, to end at the lesser 

 trochanter. 



The Trochanters. The trochan- 

 ters are prominent processes which 

 afford leverage to the muscles that 

 rotate the thigh on its axis. They 

 are two in number, the greater and 

 the lesser. 



The Greater Trochanter (trochanter 

 major; great trochanter) is a large, 

 irregular, quadrilateral eminence, 

 situated at the junction of the neck 

 with the upper part of the body. It 

 is directed a little lateralward and 

 backward, and, in the adult, is about 

 1 cm; lower than the head. It has 

 two surfaces and four borders. The 

 lateral surface, quadrilateral in form, 

 is broad, rough, convex, and marked 

 by a diagonal impression, which 

 extends from the postero-superior 

 to the antero-inferior angle, and 

 serves for the insertion of the ten- 

 don of the Glutseus medius. Above 

 the impression is a triangular sur- 

 face, sometimes rough for part of 

 the tendon of the same muscle, 

 sometimes smooth for the inter- 

 position of a bursa between the 

 tendon and the bone. Below and 

 behind the diagonal impression is 

 a smooth, triangular surface, over 

 which the tendon of the Glutseus 

 maximus plays, a bursa being inter- 

 posed. The medial surface, of much 

 less extent than the lateral, pre- 

 sents at its base a deep depression, 

 the trochanteric fossa (digital fossa), 

 for the insertion of the tendon of 

 the Obturator externus, and above 

 and in front of this an impression 

 for the insertion of the Obtura- 



