MECHANISM AND FUNCTIONS OF THE JOINTS. 163 



THE MECHANISM AND FUNCTIONS OF THE JOINTS. 



ARTICULATIONS OF THE TRUNK. 



Ligaments of the spine. — Those between the head and 

 first and second vertebras are. 



Lateral ligaments, one on each side, that run from the cor- 

 onoid processes of the occipital bone to the fore part of the 

 atlas, and are fixed in the roots of the transverse processes. 



Suspensory ligament of the head is a broad ligament en- 

 closed within the capsular. It proceeds from the body of the 

 atlas to the occipital bone. 



Capsular ligament is attached to the occipital bone, around 

 the roots of the condyloid process, and to the anterior articu- 

 lar processes of the atlas. 



Superior ligament runs from the long ring of the atlas to 

 the spine of the vertebra dentata. 



Odontoid ligaments are three in number : the two long pass 

 from the sides of the process dentata, to the occipital con- 

 dyles ; the last runs from the point of that process to the an- 

 terior and inferior parts of the atlas. 



Inferior ligament runs from the inferior spinous process 

 of the first to the second vertebra. 



The ligaments common to the spine are. 



Intervertebral ligaments. — They are the chief bond of 

 union by which one vertebra is bound to another. 



The common inferior and superior ligaments. — The for- 

 mer passes obliquely along the inferior parts of the vertebrae ; 

 and the latter runs within the spinal canal. 



Capsular ligaments surround the smooth cartilaginous 

 surfaces of the articulatory processes. 



Intertransverse ligaments fix the transverse processes of 

 the dorsal vertebrae together. 



Interspinous ligaments are found between the spinous pro- 

 cesses of the back and loins. 



Ligamentum subflavum (or nuchae) extends from the oc- 



