chap, xxi.] THE REGION OF THE KNEE. 427 



below the interarticular line that the long saphenous 

 nerve usually joins the vein. The short saphenous 

 vein follows the middle line of the calf just below 

 the ham, and pierces the deep fascia at the lower part 

 of the popliteal space. This vessel is much less con- 

 spicuous than is the long saphenous vein, and is, 

 indeed, not often to be seen unless varicose. 



The internal popliteal nerve descends in the 

 middle Hne, and continues the line that marks the 

 course of the great sciatic trunk. 



In their normal condition the popliteal glands are 

 not to be felt. 



The limits of the synovial membrane of the knee- 

 joint, and the position of the various bursse about 

 this articulation, will be dealt with in some of the 

 subsequent paragraphs. 



The front of the knee. The skin over the 

 front of the knee is dense and very movable. This 

 mobility affords considerable protection to the knee- 

 joint, especially in stabs with bluntish instruments, 

 and in any injury where the gliding movement of the 

 skin may direct the violence away from the articula- 

 tion. The comparative looseness of the integument 

 is of great value also in the operation of removing 

 so-called " loose cartilages" from the knee-joint. It 

 permits the incision into the joint to be very indirect, 

 and, the skin being dragged out of place during the 

 operation, it follows that, when the procedure is com- 

 plete, the surface wound and that in the knee capsule 

 no longer correspond. In flexion, the skin is drawn 

 tightly over the patella, and, as is the case elsewhere, 

 where integument lies more or less directly upon bone, 

 a contusion over the knee-cap may produce a lesion 

 precisely like an incised wound. 



In the Lancet for 1877 is recorded the case of a 

 very stout woman, aged fifty-seven, who, stumbling 

 on a hard road, fell upon her bent knee. The skin 



