FEMUR, 



101 



Internally at its base, and rather behind the neck, is the trochanteric or digital 



Fig. 93. FEMUR OF A MALE FROM BEFORE. Fi g- 



1, shaft ; 2, head ; 3, neck ; 4, great tro- 

 chanter ; 5, small trochanter ; 6, anterior 

 inter-trochanteric line ; 7, internal articular 

 condyle; 8, external articular condyle; 9, in- 

 ternal tuberosity; 10, external tuberosity; 

 11, the patellar articular surface ; above it 12, 

 the flat part of the femur sometimes called the ^kf, v 



suprapatellar surface ; 13, the depression for 

 the tendon of the popliteus muscle. 



fossa, which gives attachment to the ob- 

 turator externus muscle. The posterior 

 border of the great trochanter is pro- 

 minent, and continued into a smooth 

 elevation, the posterior inter trochanteric 

 line, which passes downwards and in- 

 wards to the small trochanter, and limits 

 the neck posteriorly. The small tro- 

 chanter, a conical rounded eminence, 

 projects from the posterior and inner 

 aspect of the bone, and gives attach- 

 ment to the tendon of the psoas and 

 iliacus muscles. The anterior intertro- 

 chanteric line is a rough ridge limiting 

 the neck in front between the two tro- 

 chanters ; it indicates the superior border 

 of the crureus and vastus internus mus- 

 cles, and is continuous beneath the great 

 trochanter with the line which limits 

 the vastus externus. 



The shaft is slightly arched from above 

 downwards, with the convexity forwards. 

 It is expanded at its upper and lower 

 ends. Towards the centre it is nearly 

 cylindrical, but with an inclination to 

 the prismatic form. Its anterior and 

 lateral surfaces, smooth and uniform, are 

 covered by the crureus and vasti muscles. 

 The elevation which separates the ante- 

 rior from the internal surface is at the 

 upper part strongly marked and inclined 

 forwards, giving the appearance to the 

 bone as if the forward inclination of the 

 neck were produced by a twisting out- 

 wards of the upper end of the shaft. 

 The lateral surfaces in the middle of their 

 extent approach one another behind, being 

 only separated by the linea aspera. The 

 linea aspera is a prominent ridge, extend- 

 ing along the central third of the shaft 

 posteriorly, and bifurcating above and 7 



below. It inclines slightly inwards in the middle, so as to make the external 



