234 Anatomy of the Rabbit. 



Between the apposed surfaces of the condyles, in the interior of 

 the joint, there are two short, cruciate ligaments and two thin 

 plates of fibrocartilage, the medial and lateral menisci. The 

 anterior cruciate ligament (lig. cruciatum anterius) passes from 

 the lateral wall of the intercondyloid fossa of the femur to the 

 anterior end of the intercondyloid eminence of the tibia. The 

 posterior cruciate ligament passes from the medial wall of the 

 intercondyloid fossa of the femur to the posterior intercondyloid 

 fossa of che tibia. The medial meniscus (meniscus medialis), 

 a thin crescentic plate of nbro-cartilage, lies on the articular surface 

 of the medial condyle of the tibia, and is connected by ligament w r ith 

 the anterior and posterior intercondyloid fossae of the bone. The 

 larger, lateral meniscus lies on the lateral condyle of the tibia, 

 and is attached, by ligament anteriorly to the medial portion of the 

 articular surface, and posteriorly to the medial wall of the inter- 

 condyloid fossa of the femur. The tendon of origin of the extensor 

 digitorum communis traverses the anterior part of the joint on its 

 ■way from the patellar surface of the femur to the front of the leg. 



The interosseous ligament of the leg (lig. interosseum cruris) forms an 

 almost complete- sheet connecting the uncoalesced portions of tibis and fibula. 



C. The ankle-joint (articulatio talocruralis) is a ginglymus w r ith 

 a considerable amount of spiral torsion. The articulating surfaces 

 are chiefly formed by the tibia and. talus, but also by the fibular side 

 of the tibiofibula and the calcaneus. On the tibial side the calcan- 

 eotibial ligament (lig. calcaneotibiale) connects the medial 

 malleolus with the sustentaculum tali. On the fibular side the 

 calcaneofibular ligament dig. calcaneofibulare) connects the 

 posterior portion of the groove tor the peronaei muscles forwards 

 with the lateral surface of the calcaneus, and a second, ligament 

 extends from the anterior margin of the groove backward to the 

 lateral surface of the calcaneus. The tibionavicular ligament 

 dig. tibionaviculare) connects the anterior surface of the distal 

 end of the tibia with the dorsal surface of the navicular bone. The 

 joint contains in its interior a short strong ligament connecting the 

 medial side of the lateral malleolus with the lateral and ventral 

 surfaces of the trochlea tali. 



