35 



CARTILAGINOUS STRUCTURES OF THE FOOT. 



These structures include, 



« I. The Lateral Cartilages. 



2. The Inferior Cartilages. 



3. The Articular Cartilages. 



THE LATERAL CARTILAGES. 



The Lateral Cartilages are the two cartilaginous bodies 

 already referred to as receiving the attachments of the stellate 

 ligaments of the navicular bone. They are situated upon the 

 superior margin of the wings of the coffin bone, and their 

 position as regards the hoof is about equally within as without 

 that structure. Their superior portions can easily be felt and 

 manipulated by the fingers in the living subject, and the ex- 

 tent to which they may have lost their flexibility pretty nearly 

 ascertained. Externally they are convex, internally concave. 

 Membranous expansions connect them with the extensor ten- 

 don and the coronal bone anteriorly. Posteriorly they be- 

 come thinner, and are extended downwards and inwards, 

 imparting roundness and flexibility to the heels, and afford 

 considerable protection to those parts against casualties by 

 their characteristic properties of firmness and resiliency. 



The portion of these cartilages that lies in apposition to the 

 lamellated structure of the wall has corresponding laminae for 

 connection therewith. From the inferior extremities of these 

 cartilages, supplementary ones extend, which have been named 



INFERIOR CARTILAGES 



and False Cartilages. Mr. Spooner thus describes them : 

 " They are triangular bodies, and somewhat different in struc- 

 ture from the lateral cartilages. They proceed from the lateral 

 cartilages (just as the latter reach the heels of the coffin-bone) 

 in an obliquely forward direction, on the internal and inferior 

 parts of the wings of that bone, and thus afford a smooth sur- 

 face, which is covered partly by the sensible laminae, and partly 

 by the sensible sole. The inferior are much more fibrous in 

 their structure than Ihe lateral cartilages, and the latter become 



