THE FEMUR 387 



an oval cavity, the digital fossa, for the attachment of several small muscles. 

 Inwardly it presents a concavo-convex smooth surface ; outwardly, a convex 

 and rough one. From the back of the great trochanter a prominent line 

 runs vertically down, terminating in the trochanter minor e«ternu.s (t. Fig. 

 33) ; and from this again a roughened ridge descends, taking a course 

 downwai'ds and slightly forwards to the oval fossa situated above the 

 external condyle (8). 



The neck is surmounted by a hemispherical smooth head, coated with 

 cartilage, and lodged in the acetabulum ; on it is a deep ovoid fossa, which 

 gives attachment to the ligamentum teres. 



Tlie trochanter minor internus, a conical rounded eminence, arises from 

 the posterior and internal side of the bone. It is placed above the tro- 

 chanter minor externus, which is on the opposite side. 



The inferior extremity has on each side an eminence (the external and 

 internal condyles), separated by a deep fossa. Between these anteriorly 

 two articular surfaces occur (external and internal), separated by a 

 semicircular groove, in which the patella plays. 



The external condyle is larger and projects more forwards than the 

 internal ; its articular surface is also broader : the internal presents a 

 tuberosity on its inner surface. 



The articular surfaces of both condyles are covered with cartilage, and 

 united anteriorly to the prominences before mentioned, where they form a 

 pulley-like surface, concave from side to side, over which the patella glides. 

 Inferiorly, from before backwards, these prominences converge together, 

 and terminate abruptly on the postero-interior surface of the bone ; thus 

 leaving a space between them and this interval, which has been denominated 

 the intercondyloid fossa. 



The patella, stifle-bone, or knee-cap, lies on the lower extremity of 

 the femur, at the anterior part of the stifle joint. 

 It is quadrangular in form ; its anterior surface is 

 converse and rough ; its posterior being covered with 

 cartilage is smooth, and is divided by an eminence 

 running over it into two shallow cavities (the super- 

 ficies of the internal being the larger), which corre- 

 spond with the trochlear prominences, situated ante- 

 riorly to the condyles of the femur. Superiorly it Fm. 34.— Posterior View 



presents a triangular roughened space, bounded by its 



two lateral angles, which gives attachment to muscles, 2.' ^"sMrfaceTfiidingontiie 

 and inferiorly we notice a fourth angle. These angles trochiese of the fe- 



are all blunt and slightly rounded off. 



BONES OF THE LEG 



The TiniA (so called because the ancient shepherds used this bone as a 

 tlute) lies between the femur and tarsus (hock), forming an angle with each. 

 It is broad, and of a spongy texture above ; contracted and dense below, 

 wher(! it is felt imm.efliately beneath the skin and tendons. 



The body is of a triangular or prismatic shape above, its angles gradually 

 rounriing off below, and then expanding laterally to meet the condyles of the 



