The dissector's manual of practical and surgical anatomy / By Erasmus Wilson.

  • Wilson, Erasmus, Sir, 1809-1884.
Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The dissector's manual of practical and surgical anatomy / By Erasmus Wilson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    luimerns. Rotation is also observed in the movements of the atlas upon the axis, in which the odontoid process serves as a ])ivot, around which the atlas turns. The structures entering into the composition of a joint are bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, adipose tissue, and synovial mem- brane. Cartilage forms a thin coating to the articular extremi- ties of bones, sometimes presenting a smooth surface which moves on a corresponding smooth surface of the articulating bone; sometimes forming a plate smooth on both surfaces and interposed between the cartilaginous ends of two bones, inter- articular ; and sometimes acting as the connecting medium be- tween bones without any free surface, interosseous. Fibrous tissue enters into the construction of joints under the form of ligament, in one situation constituting bands of various breadth and thickness; in another, a layer which extends completely round the joint, and is then called a capsular ligament. AH the ligaments of joints are composed of that variety of fibrous tissue termed white fibrous tissue; but in some situations ligaments are found, which consist of yellow fibrous tissue; for example, the ligamenta subflava of the arches of the vertebral column. Adi- pose tissue exists in variable quantity in relation with joints, where it performs, among other offices, that of a valve or spring, which occupies any vacant space that may be formed during the movements of the joint, and effectually prevents the occurrence of a vacuum in those cavities. This purpose of adipose tissue is exemplified in the cushion of fat at the bottom of the acetabulum, and in the similar cushion behind the ligamentum patellae. Synovial membrane constitutes the smooth and polished lining of a joint, and contains the fluid termed synovia, by means of which the adapted surfaces are enabled to move upon each other with perfect ease and freedom. ARTICULATIONS. The joints may be arranged, according to a natural division, into those of the trunk, those of the upper extremity, and those of the lower extremity. Ligaments of. the Trunk.—The articulations of the trunk are divisible into ten groups, viz :— 1. Of the vertebral column. 2. Of the atlas, with the occipital bone. 3. Of the axis, with the occipital bone. 4. Of the atlas, with the axis. 5. Of the lower jaw. 6. Of the ribs, with the vertebrae. 7. Of the ribs, with the sternum, and with each other. 45*