INTRODUCTION 215 



felt. When the knee is straight (extended) the extensor 

 muscles of the anterior part of the thigh are relaxed and the 

 patella is freely movable ; it lies on the front of the distal end 

 of the femur. As the knee is bent the patella moves off 

 the front of the femur and passes into contact with its distal 

 surface ; then the patellar surface on the front of the distal end 

 of the femur can be felt beneath the skin (Figs. 183, 184, 185). 

 The patellar surface is formed by the fused anterior parts of the 

 two condyles which constitute the expanded distal extremity of 

 the femur. The lateral condyle lies at the distal end of the 

 lateral femoral area. It is easily palpated, and upon its lateral 

 surface, nearer the posterior than the anterior end, a small 

 rounded eminence can be distinguished ; it is the lateral 

 epicondyle. The medial condyle, which lies at the distal end of 

 the medial femoral region, is more prominent than the 

 lateral condyle. Near its posterior end the large rounded 

 medial epicondyle is very obvious to the touch. Above the 

 medial epicondyle, on the upper border of the condyle, is a 

 much smaller and less easily felt prominence, the adductor 

 tubercle, so called because the tendon of a muscle called the 

 adductor magnus is attached to it (Figs. 101, 102). 



Immediately distal to the condyles of the femur are the 

 condyles of the tibia, and below them, in front, is the tuberosity 

 of the tibia. Extending from the patella to the tuberosity of 

 the tibia is a thick, broad band called the Hgamentum patella^ 

 which is most easily felt when the knee joint is half bent. Im- 

 mediately distal to the posterior part of the lateral condyle 

 of the femur, on the same horizontal plane as the tuberosity 

 of the tibia, lies the head of the fibula. The rounded tendon 

 descending to it, from the thigh, is the tendon of the biceps 

 femoris. 



Between the knee and the ankle lies the region of the leg. 

 In it there are two bones, the tibia and ti\e fibula. The tibia 

 is the more medial, the more anterior, and much the stronger 

 and more massive of the two bones. It lies immediately 

 beneath the skin and extends the whole way from the knee 

 to the ankle, where it terminates, on the medial side of the 

 ankle, in a visible projection, called the medial malleolus. Its 

 anterior border is the shin\\\. is easily traced from the tuberosity 

 of the tibia to the anterior border of the medial malleolus. 

 The proximal end of the tibia articulates by its condyles with 

 the condyles of the femur at the knee joint. Its distal end 

 i 14 c 



