250 



THE ARTICULATIONS 



convex and its articular face concave and very smooth in adaptation to the head of 

 the bone, which it tightly embraces a little beyond its greatest circumference. It 

 somewhat contracts the aperture of the acetabulum, and retains the head of the 

 femur within its grasp after division of the muscles and capsular ligament. It is 

 covered on both aspects by synovial membrane. 



Fig. 240. 



-Hip-joint after diviiuxg the Capsi'I,.\r Ligament and disarticulating 

 THE Femur. 



Ligamentum teres 



Capsular ligament 



Capsular ligament, cut 

 Cotyloid ligament 



Capsular ligament 



The synovial membrane lines the capsule and both surfaces of the cotyloid 

 ligament, and passes over the border of the acetabulum to reach and cover the fatty 

 cushion it contains. The part covering the fatty cushion is unusually thick, and is 

 attached round the edges of the rough bony surface on which the cushion rests. 

 The memljrane is loosely reflected off this on to the ligamentum teres, along which 



Fig. 241.— Portions of Ischium and Pubes, showing the Cotyloid Notch and the 

 Ligamentum Teres attached outside the Acetabulum. 



Transverse ligament . 



Cotyloid ligament 



Transverse ligament 



Ligamentum teres attached 

 to ischium outside the 

 acetabulum 



it is prolonged to the head of the femur; thus the fibres of the round ligament are 

 shut out from the joint cavity. From the capsule the synovial memlirane is also 

 reflected lielow on to the neck (.f the femur, whence it passes over the retinacula to 

 the margin of the articular cartilage. A fold of synovial membrane on the under 

 aspect of the neck often conveys to the head of tlie femur a branch of arterv — gen- 

 erallv a branch of the internal circumflex. 



