ABTICULATIONS OF THE POSTERIOR LIMBS. 



217 



extremity is attached in the fossa behind that eminence. The external semilunar 

 fiiro-cartilage is fixed, in front, near the anterior insertion of the opposite fibro- 

 cartilage ; its posterior extremity gives origin to two slips or cords, one superior, 

 the other inferior. The first, the strongest and longest, terminates in the fossa 

 near the posterior extremity of the intercondyloid notch. The second, thin and 

 ■flat, is inserted on the posterior outline of the external tibial facet. The external 

 border of this meniscus is separated from the external lateral ligament by the 

 tendon of the popliteus muscle, and acts, with regard to this tendon, as a pulley. 

 Mode of union. — The bands which bind this complicated articulation are veiy 



Fig. 141. 



FEMORO-TIBIAL ARTICULATION'. 



A. — Posterior face : the posterior lignment has been removed. 1, External meniscus ; 2, fibrous 

 fasciculi fi.xiug it to the femur ; 3, fibrous fascia which attaches it to the posterior contour of the 

 tibial surface ; 4, internal meniscus ; 5, tibial insertion of the posterior crucial ligament ; 6, 

 external lateral ligament ; 7, mternal lateral ligament. 



B. — External face : the external condyle of the femur and the meniscus have been removed to 

 show the crucial ligaments. 1, Anterior crucial ligament; 2, posterior ditto; 3, fibular insertion 

 of the external lateral ligament ; 4, anterior patellar ligaments. A, Internal meni.^^cus ; B, anterior 

 insertion of the external meniscus ; C, passage for the tendinous cord common to the flexor of the 

 metatarsus and the anterior extensor of the phalanges ; D, anterior and superior tuberosity of 

 the tibia; E, tibial crest. 



numerous. They will be successively described as : 1 . Those which attach the 

 patella to the tibia. 2. Those which unite the femur with the tibia. 



A. Ligaments attaching the -patella to the tibia. — The patella is bound to the 

 tibia by three funicular ligaments, designated by the generic epithet of " patellar." 

 They are situated in front of the articulation, and transmit to the leg the action 

 of the muscles which are attached to the patella. They are distinguished accord- 

 ing to their position, as external, internal, and middle (Fig. 142, 2, 3, 4). 



a. The external patellar ligament, the largest and most powerful, is a flattened 

 band, attached, by its lower extremity, to the culminating point of the anterior 

 tuberosity of the tibia. Its upper extremity is fixed to the anterior face of the 

 patella, and is confounded with the patellar insertion of the superficial gluteus. 

 It is joined to the internal ligament by a veiy resisting aponeurotic extension, a 

 dependency of the fascia lata. 



