OSTEOLOGY. 



63 



(ft 



THE FEMUR, or thigh-bone, is the largest, longest, and 

 strongest bone in the body. In the erect position it inclines 

 toward its fellow at the knee, being widely separated above, form- 

 ing the sides of a triangle, the base of which is greater in females 

 rom the greater breadth of the pelvis. In consists of a shaft, an 

 upper and lower extremity. 



The shaft, expanded above and 

 below, curved and twisted, convex in 

 front, concave behind, is nearly cyl n- 

 drical throughout, and presents: 



Smooth anterior surface, for origin 

 of crureus and subcrureus musclrs ; 



Lateral surfaces, covered by the 

 vasti externus and internus ; 



The posterior surface, rough" and 

 prominent, has its 



Nutrient foramen between the mid- 

 dle and lower two-thirds directed up- 

 ward ; 



Linea aspera, a rough, prominent, 

 longitudinal crest descending from the 

 trochanters along the middle third, bi- 

 furcating and diverging at the inferior 

 extremity to the condyles, inclosing 



The popliteal space, a smooth, tri- 

 angular space, on which rests the pop- 

 liteal artery, and which is 



Grooved at its inner margin by the 

 femoral artery. 



The outer and inner lip of thelinea 

 aspera give attachment to the vasti ex- 

 terni and interni, three adductors, pec- 

 tineus, biceps, and gluteus maximus. 



The upper extremity presents the 

 following : 



The head, forming two-fifths of a 

 sphere, articulates with the acetabulum, 

 having a central oval depression for the 

 ligamentum teres ; 



Neck, pyramidal, with excavated surfaces, connects the head 

 with the shaft, the angle of its obliquity to the shaft varying 

 much from puberty to old age, being, in the adult, about 130 ; 



The great trochanter, a large, rough, quadrilateral eminence, 

 dim-ted upward, outward, and backward, its external surface 

 marked by a diagonal line for insertion of gluteus medius ten- 



FIG. 26. 



1, shaft of femur; 2, 

 head; 3, neck; 4, great 

 trochanter; 5, anterior 

 trochanteric line; 6, les- 

 ser trochanter; 7 and 8, 

 external and internal 

 condyles; 10, groove for 

 popliteus muscle; 9 and 

 11, external and internal 

 tuberosities. 



