THE WITHERS 17 



is to the summit. Along the region of the with- 

 ers its fibers, unhke those of any other part of 

 the body, are vertical, extending downward to 

 the proximal border of the scapular cartilage, 

 where they find another fixed attachment. It 

 is fused with and in fact may be regarded a 

 part of the superficial fascia. As a structure 

 to incise for invasions into the withers it may 

 be so considered. Beneath the superficial fas- 

 cia is another aponeurotic layer whose fibers 

 are so arranged as to cross those of the tra- 

 pezius beneath at right angles. This layer is 

 of no special surgical importance. It is found 

 only in a careful dissection of the region and is 

 in no way influential in guiding pathological 

 processes nor in shaping surgical procedure. 



The Trapezius 



The trapezius, excluding the fascia just 

 mentioned, is the third layer of the withers and 

 is really the first of the anatomical structures 

 that must be reckoned with in the study of fis- 

 tula. It is a triangular membranous muscle 

 with its base upward running along the withers 

 where its aponeurosis is attached to the supra- 

 spinous ligament along the withers and to the 

 ligamentum nuchse in the cervical region, ex- 

 tending in all from the axis to the tenth dorsal 

 vertebra. This triangidar sheet-like structure 



