96 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF ANIMALS 



(Fig. 51). In the skeleton of the ox, which forms part of the 

 anatomical museum of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the bi- 

 ischiadic diameter is 39 centimetres, whilst the width of one 

 iliac crest is 29 centimetres, so that, in contrast to that which 

 we find in the dog, the width of the ischiadic region is less 

 than that formed in front by the addition of the iliac crests. 



The great trochanter is large, and extends beyond the level 

 of the plane in which the head of the femur is found. 



In the ox, the linea aspera, instead of being a narrow crest, 

 is spread out, and forms in reality a surface ; the posterior 

 surface of the femur. At the inferior and external part of this 

 surface is situated a cavity which surmounts the corresponding 

 condyle, and is known as the supracondyloid fossa. On the 

 internal part of the same region there are a series of tubercles, 

 which, because of their position in relation to the corre- 

 sponding condyle, constitute the supracondyloid crest. 



The internal lip of the trochlea is much thicker and much 

 more prominent than the external. 



The details which we have just now examined in connec- 

 tion with the ox are less marked in the sheep. 



The trochlea, narrow a,s a whole, is clearly separate from 

 the condyles by a very marked constriction. 



The patella, which is thickened in the antero-posterior 

 direction, has the shape of a triangular pyramid with the 

 base upwards. Its posterior surface, which articulates 

 with the trochlea, presents an arrangement which is adapted 

 to the disposition of this latter — that is to say, the sur- 

 face which is in contact with the internal lip is larger 

 than that which articulates with the lip of the opposite 

 side. 



The tibia of the ox is proportionately shorter than that of 

 the sheep. The shaft of this bone is flattened from before 

 backwards, in its inferior half. The median crest of the 

 articular surface of the inferior extremity is the most pro- 

 minent part of that region. 



The fibula is extremely atrophied. The shaft and superior 

 extremity of this bone are represented merely by a simple 

 ligamentous cord, which is sometimes ossified. There re- 

 mains of the fibula, as a portion well and distinctly developed, 



