@ 
THE SKELETON OF THE POSTERIOR LIMB. I7I 
the knee by the patella and the patellar ligament. The articular 
portion is slightly differentiated into medial and lateral condyles 
corresponding to those of the distal end of the femur. On the 
articular surface the concave areas for the reception of the condyles 
of the femur are separated from one 
another by a small intervening, tt. 
partly divided hillock, the inter- | fas. 
condyloid eminence (eminentia 5 . 
intercondyloidea), and also poster- 
iorly by a depression of the articular 
border, the posterior intercondy- 
loid fossa. A corresponding anterior 
intercondyloid fossa lies in front of 
the intercondyloid eminence, but is 
poorly differentiated. 
The fibula (Fig. 71) is the smaller, 
lateral bone of the leg, and in the 
rabbit is so extensively fused with the 
tibia that scarcely more than a third 
of it is distinguishable. The free 
portion forms a flattened bony splint, 
the medial margin of which is firmly 
united with the tibia by the inter- 
osseous ligament of the leg. Its 
proximal extremity is connected with 
the lateral condyle of the tibia by an 
elongated epiphysis, the latter, iike 
those of the distal ends of the radius 
and ulna, being distinguishable even 
in older animals. 
Thecombined distal extremities © 7 jf 132° ay ee ate oF the 

es = i ae i . c.l. and c.m., lateral and medial 
of the tibia and fibula bear a roughly Coda leds ihe. Parone! articles 
: , : Fat ls em ie aa ¥ surface for the femur; m.l. and 
rectangular articular surface for the sae, Tet Sea enna aaa PG STTe 
tarsus. The tibial portion of this t.t., tuberosity of tibia. 
surface presents two grooves, separ- 
ated by a ridge, for articulation with the trochlea tali. On its 
medial side is a small projection, the medial malleolus (malleolus 
medialis). 
