THE LOWER EXTREMITIES. 189 



" coxa vera" , in which the neck is almost horizontal. 

 Extending upward, outward, and backward from the 

 shaft at the base of the neck, about three quarters of an 

 inch lower than the head and about on a level with 

 the acetabulum and the spine of the os pubis, is the 

 greater trochanter. This large;, irregular prominence and 

 the smaller one of the lesser trochanter, which is at the 

 lower part of the base of the neck posteriorly, are for 

 the attachment of muscles and to assist in rotating the 

 bone. The lower extremity of the femur is larger than 

 the upper and is flat from before backward. Between 

 its two large eminences, the external and internal con- 

 dyles, is a smooth depression in front, the trochlear 

 surface, for articulation with the patella. The external 

 condyle is more prominent in front, the internal infe- 

 riorly, the latter being the longer of the two by about half 

 an inch. The epiphysis at the lower end of the femur 

 is the only one in which ossification has begun at birth. 

 Therefore, if ossification is found there, the child is known 

 to have arrived at full term. 



So many large muscles are attached to the femur 

 that the shaft cannot be detected in the living unless 

 the person is very thin and poorly developed. The 

 outer surface of the greater trochanter, however, and 

 the condyles can be felt. 



A string stretched from the anterior superior spine 

 of the ilium to the tuberosity of the ischium passes in 

 the middle just over the upper edge of the greater tro- 

 chanter. The line thus drawn is known as Ntlaton's 

 line and is of considerable importance in many condi- 

 tions of the hip. Thus, if the hip is dislocated, the tro- 

 chanter will be thrown above Nelaton's line, and in os- 

 tcomalacia the pelvis sinks and the trochanter is again 

 a hove the line. 



Thigh Muscles. Of the thigh muscles only a few need 

 be mentioned. One large muscle is the psoas magnus, 

 which has its origin on the front of the last dorsal and 

 all the lumbar vertebrae, passes down across the brim of 



