134 



THE BONES OF THE LOWER LIMB. 



A. 



B. 



if ^^ n 



, .- .-- *J 



Fig. 154. SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH METATARSAL BONES OF THE RIGHT FOOT : A, FROM INNER 



SIDE ; B, FROM OUTER SIDE. (G. D. T.) 



The remaining four bones are distinguished from 

 the metacarpal bones by being more slender and 

 compressed from side to side, corresponding to the 

 narrower form of the foot compared with that of 

 the hand. The second is the longest ; the others 

 diminish gradually to the fifth. Their shafts pre- 

 sent in the greater part of their extent a prominent border 

 looking upwards, which in the middle three appears on 

 the back of the foot between the dorsal interosseous 

 muscles on each side. Their heads are elongated from 

 above down, and terminate below in two small projec- 

 tions ; on each side is a tubercle and depression for the 

 attachment of the lateral ligament. The bases differ in 

 the several bones, and thus furnish distinctive cha- 

 racters between them. The second has a triangular base, 

 which articulates with the middle cuneiform bone ; on the 

 inner side is a small facet for the internal cuneiform, and 

 sometimes, below and in front of this, a less distinct 

 surface for the first metatarsal bone ; on the outer side 

 there are usually two small surfaces, an upper and a 

 lower, each again subdivided into two, thus making four 

 facets, of which the two posterior articulate with the 

 external cuneiform, and the two anterior with the next 



metatarsal bone. The third has also a triangular base articulating with the external 

 cuneiform bone ; on the inner side are usually two facets for the second, and on the 

 outer side a single larger facet for thejfourth metatarsal bone. The base of the fourth 



TUBEROSITY 



Fig. 155. FIFTH METATARSAL 



BONE OF RIGHT FOOT : DORSAL 



ASPECT. (G.D.T.) 



