THE POSTERIOR SCAPULAR REGION. 



385 



by tendinous fibres from the ridges on its surface : it also arises from a strong 

 fascia which covers it externally, and separates it from the Teres major and minor. 

 The fibres converge to a tendon which glides over the external border of the 

 spine of the scapula, and, passing across the posterior part of the capsular ligament 

 of the shoulder-joint, is inserted into the middle facet on the great tuberosity of 

 the humerus. The tendon of this muscle is occasionally separated from the spine 

 of the scapula by a synovial bursa which communicates with the synovial cavity 

 of the shoulder-joint. 



Relations. By its posterior surface, with the Deltoid, the Trapezius, Latissimus 

 dorsi, and the integument ; by its anterior surface, with the scapula, from which 



FIG. 232. Muscles on the dorsum of the Scapula and the Triceps. 



it is separated by the suprascapular and dorsalis scapulae vessels, and with the 

 capsular ligament of the shoulder-joint. Its lower border is in contact with the 

 Teres minor, occasionally united with it, and with the Teres major. 



The Teres minor is a narrow, elongated muscle, which arises from the dorsal sur- 

 face of the axillary border of the scapula for the upper two-thirds of its extent, 

 and from two aponeurotic laminae, one of which separates this muscle from the 

 Infraspinatus, the other from the Teres major; its fibres pass obliquely upward 

 and outward, and terminate in a tendon which is inserted into the lowest of the 

 three facets on the great tuberosity of the humerus, and, by fleshy fibres, into the 

 humerus immediately below it. The tendon of this muscle passes across the 

 posterior part of the capsular ligament of the shoulder-joint. 



Relations. By its posterior surface, with the Deltoid and the integument; 

 by its anterior surface, with the scapula arid dorsal branch of the subscapular 

 artery, the long head of the Triceps, and the shoulder-joint; by its upper border, 

 with the Infraspinatus ; by its lower border, with the Teres major, from which it 

 is separated anteriorly by the long head of the Triceps. 



