OP THE LIGAMENTS. 331 



The same name has improperly been given to many other 

 parts and especially to bridles formed by folds of the serous 

 and mucous membranes, to serous and adipose prolonga- 

 tions, &c. 



The true ligaments are attached by their two extremities to 

 the bones and periosteum, and so firmly, that in the adult, it 

 requires an advanced stage of putrefaction to separate them; 

 but in children they separate from the bones with the perios- 

 teum by a moderate maceration. 



The fibrous tissue which enters into their composition is 

 very dense, and arranged in more or less distinct bundles, very 

 closely connected; some go even so far as to have the appa- 

 rent homogeneous structure of the cartilages. 



By decoction, they are resolved, though with difficulty, into 

 gelatine and albumen. 



513. The ligaments are often affected with inflammation, 

 either through mechanical causes, as those of sprains and frac- 

 tures in the articular parts of the bones, or through the in- 

 flamed neighbouring synovial membranes, or through the spe- 

 cific causes of articular rheumatism and gout. Inflammation 

 gives rise to two different effects in the ligaments: namely, an 

 extreme softening and a loss of their power of resistance, or 

 accidental ossification. This last change is the most frequent; 

 the other is especially observed in the scrofulous diseases of 

 the articulations. 



According to their connexions and uses, the ligaments are 

 distinguished in articular, non-articular, and mixed. The 

 first are those which are attached by their extremities to dif- 

 ferent bones that they connect, these are the most important; 

 the second kind are those, which attached to different parts of 

 the same bone, serve to close notches, as at the orbital arch 

 and at the superior margin of the scapulae, or to close an open- 

 ing and give attachment to muscles, like the obturator liga- 

 ment of the foramen ovale; the last are those which, like the 

 sacro-ischiatic and interosseous ligaments of the arm and leg, 

 are fixed to different bones, but serve especially for the inser- 

 tion of muscles. 



