anatomy of the horse. 
43 
OF THE HAUNCH. 
The superior part of the haunch is formed by the iliac portion 
of the os innominatum ; its middle has for base the os femoris; 
below and in front, it is terminated by the patella. 
ROUND BONE. (OS FEMORIS.) 
V z' 
Form —Long, cylindrical. Magnitude —The most substan¬ 
tial, the strongest and heaviest bone in the body; and one of the 
longest. Direction— Oblique; from above downward, and from 
behind forward. 
Division —Into body and extremities. 
Body. —Upper part, expanded ; flattened, posteriorly; promi¬ 
nent, anteriorly; and having, projecting from its outer border, a 
broad, flat, semicircular process, curved forwards, which is the 
small external trochanter : to it are fixed the faschia lata, tensor 
vaginae and gluteus externus. Nearly opposite to this, only 
somewhat higher, the inner border has an asperous oblong promi¬ 
nence, the internal trochanter, which receives the insertions of the 
psoae and pectineus muscles. The lower half of the body is con¬ 
tracted, round, and smooth : and on its postero-external part pre¬ 
sents a deep oval pit, with asperous surfaces, which give attach¬ 
ment to the gastrocnemii. About the middle of the body, be¬ 
hind, is the medullary foramen. 
The superior extremity consists of two parts: — a hemis¬ 
pherical, smooth, articulatory head , looking upwards and inwards, 
joined to the body by a thick flattened neck , and exhibiting on its 
inner side a wide deep fissure, into which is fixed the round liga¬ 
ment ; the head itself being adapted to the acetabulum in the 
os innominatum. The other portion is a larger irregular projec¬ 
tion, rising posteriorly into a pyramidal eminence, at the root of 
which, behind, is a deep oval cavity: this process, the great 
external trochanter, presents a broad, uneven, asperous surface 
outwardly, which receives the implantation of the gluteal muscles ; 
a waving roughened crest, superiorly, to which are attached the 
obturator muscles; and a concave smooth surface inwardly, to 
which is fixed the capsular ligament. 
• The inferior extremitV presents for consideration, a 
trochleal prominence and two condyles. The first, the pulley- 
like articulatory surface in front, consists of a broad semicircular 
groove, bounded on either side by a prominence, of which the in¬ 
ternal projects much more than the external: over this surface 
plays the patella. The condyles, most conspicuous posteriorly, 
much resemble each other, excepting that the external is the 
