The principles of anatomy and physiology applied to the preservation of health / by Joseph Brown Walker.

  • Walker, Joseph Brown.
Date:
1844
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The principles of anatomy and physiology applied to the preservation of health / by Joseph Brown Walker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    [8] cated. The movements of pronation and supination, or turning round the hand, are affected not by the elbow- joint, but by the radius moving upon the ulna, by means of joints formed for this purpose. The carpus or wrist consists of eight small bones, connecting the hand to the fore-ai'm, which are too complicated to admit of explana- tion here. The bones of the hand are five in number, which are united with those of the fingers, of which there are fourteen on each hand. The lower extremities con- sist of the os femoris or thigh bone, which is the largest bone of the human body ; the patella or knee-pan ; the tibia and fibula or leg bones ; and the tarsal and meta- tarsal bones, and phalanges, composing the ancle, foot, and toes. The thigh-bone is connected to the body by means of a large round head, deeply sunk into a corresponding hollow in the pelvis, thus combining freedom of motion with great security. The thigh may be moved back- wards and forwards as in walking ; and also outwards and inwards, as when sitting on horseback or with the legs crossed. The socket being mnch deeper than that of the shoulder joint, the thigh-bone has not the same range of motion as the the humerus, but has proportion- ably greater security. The patella or knee-pan is well known. It is a small bone constituting the projection of the knee. It increas- es the power of the muscles which extend the leg, and protects the front of the knee joint. The tibia or shin bone is the principal bone of the leg, and is the only one connected with that of the thigh. Its lower end forms the projection of the inner ancle. The fibula is the long slender bone at the outer side of the leg, the lower end of which forms the outer ancle. Thus the tibia and fibu- la, together with the ancle joint, which, like that of the knee, are almost limited to flexion and extension. The bones of the feet, twenty-six in each, display an admirable mechanism, but without plates any description of them would be unintelligible. Our present aim being practical utility, we shall there- fore pass over these details, and rather lay before the