FEMUR. 



239 



front part of the neck, at its junction 

 with the great trochanter, is called the 

 tubercle of the femur ; it is the point of 

 meeting of three muscles, the Gluteus 

 Minimus externally, the Vastus Exter- 

 nus below, and the tendon of the Obtu- 

 rator Internus and Gemelli above. Run- 

 ning obliquely downwards and inwards 

 from the tubercle is the spiral line of 

 the femur, or anterior intertrochanteric 

 line; it winds round the inner side of 

 the shaft, below the lesser trochanter, 

 and terminates in the linea aspera, about 

 two inches below this eminence. Its 

 upper half is rough, and affords attach- 

 ment to the capsular ligament of the 

 hip-joint ; its lower half is less promi- 

 nent, and gives attachment to the upper 

 part of the Vastus Internus. The pos- 

 terior intertrochanteric line is very 

 prominent, and runs from the summit 

 of the great trochanter downwards and 

 inwards to the upper and back part of 

 the lesser trochanter. Its upper half 

 forms the posterior border of the great 

 trochanter. A well-marked eminence 

 commences about the middle of the pos- 

 terior intertrochanteric line, and passes 

 vertically downwards for about two 

 inches along the back part of the shaft: 

 it is called the linea quadrati, and gives 

 attachment to the Quadratus Femoris, 

 and a few fibres of the Adductor Mag- 

 nus muscles. 



The Shaft, almost perfectly cylindrical 

 in form, is a little broader above than 

 in the centre, and somewhat flattened 

 from before backwards below. It is 

 slightly arched, so as to be convex in 

 front ; concave behind, where it is 

 strengthened by a prominent longitudi- 

 nal ridge, the linea aspera. It presents' 

 for examination three borders separating 

 three surfaces. Of the three borders, 

 one, the linea aspera, is posterior; the 

 other two are placed laterally. 



The linea aspera (Fig. 171) is a promi 

 nent longitudinal ridge or crest, present- 

 ing, on the middle third of the bone, an 

 external lip, an internal lip, and a rough 

 intermediate space. A little above the 

 centre of the shaft, this crest divides into 

 three lines ;* the most external one be- 

 comes very rough, and is continued 



1 Of these three lines, only the outer and inner 

 are described by many anatomists : the linea 

 aspera is then said to bifurcate above and below. 



Fig. 171. Right Femur. Posterior Surface, 



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