Some observations on the comparative anatomy of the fibula / by William Mackenzie.

  • Mackenzie, William Colin, Sir, 1877-1938.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Some observations on the comparative anatomy of the fibula / by William Mackenzie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Proo. Roy. Soc, Victoria. 23 (N.S.), Pt. II., 1911.] Art. XXIX.—Some Observations on the Comparative Anatomy of the Fibula.1 By WILLIAM MACKENZIE, M.D., F.R.S. (Edin). (With Plates LXXVI.—LXXVIII ). [Read 10th November, 1910]. Bone serves various uses in the animal economy. Of its sub- servience to muscle there are numerous instances scattered throughout the comparative world. Thus, muscle dominance produces a broadening of the bone surface where muscle attach- ment is required, and a narrowing or rotundity where such attach- ment is diminished or absent, compactness or lightness of bone where strength or otherwise is requisite, and bony ridges, and projections to afford leverage, as, for example, in the case of the attachment of the two thigh flexors in the leg of the Koala Phascolarctus. As obviously the erect position adopted by man and consequent mode of progression have impaired the func- tion of numerous muscles throughout the body, recognition of accompanying bony changes becomes a matter not only of com- parative, but also of surgical interest. If we regard the extremities, one would naturally expect such changes to be more marked in the lower than the upper limb, and indeed that is so. Man’s hand not distinguishable much from that of the tree climber, and having independent thumb action is capable of numerous possibilities of adaption, though Koala with his two thumbs is to be envied ; but in the lower limb which we use solely for ambulation no longer have we the approximating Hallux of the Koala or Lemur—we simply require a broadened surface for support; the intermediate position between the Hallux of man and of the Lemur or Koala being seen in the Baboon. Associated with this alteration of 1 The work in connection with this paper was done in the Anatomical Department, Veterinary School, Melbourne University.