OF THE EXTERIOR MUSCLES. 443 



even these are not all the considerations on which the nomen- 

 clature of the muscles is based. 



Scarcely any of these considerations are absolutely useless to 

 the knowledge of the functions of the muscles; nevertheless, 

 the most useful are, without doubt, the movement itself, the 

 insertions, the region occupied by the muscle, its direction, 

 &c. It would matter but little how numerous these bases 

 were, provided they always furnished names that were proper, 

 distinct and short, even though not very significative; but 

 almost all the names of the muscles are names composed of 

 several of the circumstances indicated. Thus we find in the 

 muscular nomenclature, the names obliquus externus abdomi- 

 nis, rectus anticus capitis longus, radialis externus primus, 

 rectus femoris anticus, interosseus dorsalis manus primus, &c. 

 This inconvenience, joined to that resulting from the multi- 

 tude of different names given by various anatomists to the 

 same muscle, induced M. Chaussier* to propose a reform in 

 anatomical language, and especially in that of myology. This 

 reform in the names of the muscles consisted in giving to each 

 of them a name which expresses solely and constantly the two 

 opposite points of attachment, designated commonly under 

 the names of origin and of insertion; but the able author of 

 this project found it impossible to give names which were not 

 at the same time, a pretty large number of them at least, com- 

 posed of some others of the circumstances indicated above. 

 M. Dumast endeavoured to modify the nomenclature of M. 

 Chaussier by indicating in his names all the points of attach- 

 ment of the muscles. M. Dumeril,:j: also engaged in the re- 

 form of the anatomical language, by taking for the root of this 

 language the Greek or Latin names of the bones and of the 

 viscera, and by merely varying the termination of these names 

 for the varipus other organs and for the regions. The termina- 

 tion of the muscles was ien ; thus the name occipito frontien, 



* Exposition sommaire des muscles du corps humain. Dijon., 1789. Ta- 

 bleau des muscles de fhomme. Paris, 1797. 



f Systeme mtfhodique de nomenclature et de c lass i-ficat ion des muscles du 

 corps humain, etc. Montpillier, 1797, in 4to. 



j Magasin Emydoptdique. 



