128 HUMAN ANATOMY. 



The semi-lunar fib ro- car til ages consist of two crescentic 

 laminae of interarticular cartilage, resting upon the upper ar- 

 ticular surface of tibia, which serve to deepen its surface. 



The internal is attached by its inner border to internal 

 lateral ligament and to head of tibia by coronary ligaments, its 

 extremities attached in front of anterior crucial ligament and 

 behind the spine. 



The external, more circular, is connected to edge of tibial 

 head by coronary ligaments, its extremities being inserted behind 

 and in front of the tibial spine. 



In other words, the ends of the semi-lunar cartilages are all, 

 except the anterior end of internal, attached to the tibia between 

 the crucial ligaments. 



A band of fibres passing from the anterior margin of ex- 

 ternal cartilage to the internal has received the name of trans- 

 verse ligament. 



The knee is lined by the most extensive synovial membrane 

 in the body, covering both surfaces throughout and extending 

 up between quadriceps tendon and surface of femur. 



Below the patella in front is a duplicature of synovial mem- 

 brane, inclosing some adipose tissue, which has received the 

 name of ligamentum mucosum, and extending from it are two 

 fringes the ligamenta alaria. 



On either side in the popliteal space behind are bursae, 

 which often communicate with joint. 



There are also bursa3 over the patella?, above and beneath 

 the ligamentum patellae, and between the inner hamstring and 

 head of tibia. 



The arteries of the knee-joint are derived from the anasto- 

 motica magna, the articular branches of the popliteal (five), and 

 the recurrent branch of the anterior tibial. 



Its nerves are derived from the anterior crural, obturator, 

 external and internal popliteal nerves. 



THE TIBIO-FIBULAR ARTICULATIONS are three superior, 

 middle, and inferior. The superior is an arthrodial joint between 

 fibular head and outer tuberosity of tibia, and consists of an- 

 terior and posterior ligaments stretching on either side of the 

 outer tuberosity, downward and backward, to the head of the 

 fibula. The arteries are some of the knee; the nerves, from 

 external popliteal. 



The middle consists of an interosseous membrane between 

 the bones, connecting them firmly together, deficient above, for 

 passage forward of anterior tibial artery and below for anterior 

 peroneal vessels. 



The inferior is an arthrodial joint between contiguous in- 



