Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The anatomy of the human body / By J. Cruveilhier. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Lamar Soutter Library, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
121/944 (page 97)
![ticus, to which it gives attachment. Inferiorly, the externa] surface of the tibia turns forward (d), and this deviation corresponds with the altered direction of several tendons, which are placed at first on the outside of the bone, and afterward pass in front of it. There is, in fact, a constant reciprocity between alterations in the direction of bones, and changes in the course of neighbouring tendons. The posterior surface is also broad above, and progressively dimin- ishes downward. On it we observe near the upper part, 1. An irreg- ular line, running obliquely downward and inward ; to this line many of the deep-seated muscles on the back of the leg are attached. 2. Above this line a triangular surface covered by the popliteus muscle, which separates it from the popliteal artery. 3. Below the same line, the orifice of the nutritious canal, which runs downward. Into this nutritious canal, which is, perhaps, the largest of any in the long bones, I have seen a nervous twig enter, accompanying the nutri- tious artery. 4. From the obhque line to the lower end of the tibia, the posterior surface of this bone is smooth, of almost uniform di- ameter, and divided throughout its length by a more or less marked vertical line. The anterior edge (c c) is placed immediately under the skin, beneath which it may be readily felt ;* its lower fourth is round and blunt, the upper three fourths are sharp, and hence it has been called the crest of the tihid. Its upper part inchnes somewhat outward, its lower part in- ward. The external edge {g k) gives attachment to the interosseous liga- ment ; it is bifurcated below, and thus forms the two boundaries of an articular cavity, which we shall notice in describing the lower end of the tibia. The in- ternal border (/ /), much less sharp than the others, affords insertion to several muscles. The upper ox femoral extremity {f g) of the tibia is at least double the size of the lower, and is larger in a transverse direction than from before backward ; on it we observe two concave articular surfaces, of an oval shape, with their long diameter directed from behind forward. They have been improperly denominated condyles; a more correct name would be glenoid cavities of the tibia. These surfaces, which articulate with the con- dyles of the femur, are not perfectly alike ; the internal is longer, narrower, and deeper than the external. They are separated by a pyramidal eminence surmounted by two sharp tubercles. This eminence, which is called the spine of the tibia (e), is nearer the posterior than the anterior part of the bone. In front and behind this spine are two rough depressions, which give attachment to the crucial ligaments. The glenoid cavi- ties are supported by two considerable enlargements, called tuberosities of the tibia. The internal tuberosity (/), larger than the external, presents behind a horizontal groove, into which one of the divisions of the tendon of the semi-membranosus is in- serted. The external tuberosity (g), smaller, but more prominent behind than the internal, presents at its back part a small, almost circular facette, which articulates with a corre- sponding surface on the fibula. The two tuberosities of the tibia are separated behind by a considerable excavation. In front they are separated by a triangular surface, pierced by vascular foramina, and terminating below in an eminence, called anterior tuberosity of the tibia (h). This tuberosity, below which the crest of the bone commences, is rough and prominent below, where it gives attachment to the tendon of the extensor muscles of the leg, ligamentum patella,j and smooth above, where it is separated from the same ten- don by a synovial bursa. A projecting line runs outward from this tuberosity, and ter- minates above in a tubercle, which is very prominent in some individuals, and may be easily felt under the skin. It gives origin to part of the tibialis anticus. The lower or tarsal extremity {I k) of the tibia is almost square, having, like the upper, its greatest diameter transversely. We observe on it a quadrilateral articular cavity {i), transversely oblong, broader on the outside than on the inside, and divided by an antero- posterior ridge, into two unequal parts. It articulates with the astragalus. The circum- ference of this extremity presents, 1. In front, a convex surface {d), with some inequalities for the insertion of ligaments ; it is in contact with the extensor tendons of the toes. 2. Behind, an almost plane surface, having a shallow depression, which is hardly visible in some subjects, for the tendon of the long flexor of the great toe, and which must not be con- founded with an oblique groove, situated on the inner side, and which will be described with the internal malleolus. 3. On the outside, a triangular cavity {k), broad and smooth below, narrow and rough in its two upper thirds, which articulates with the fibula. 4. On * The superficial situation of the anterior edge of the tibia renders it a good, guide to surgeons in the diagno- sis and coaptation of fractures of the leg. It also greatly exposes the bone to injury from external violence. It is not uncommon to find it broken, or, as it were, notched, by a gun-shot. t I have seen this tuberosity so large that several practitioners, not familiar in such anatomical varieties, believed it to be an exostosis, and had placed the patient, a lad of 14 years of age, under a course of mercurial frictions. * N](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21196801_0121.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
