The anatomy of the human body / By J. Cruveilhier.

  • Jean Cruveilhier
Date:
1844
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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.

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    on account of their connexion with the basin or pelvis, but better named aliormnal ex- tremities. The thoracic and abdominal extremities are evidently modifications of the same fundamental type, and are essentially composed of the same number of analogous parts, viz.: 1. An osseous girdle, the superior constituted by the bones of the shoulder, the inferior by the pelvis. 2. A part which may be in some measure regarded as the body of the limb, viz., the humerus, in the thoracic extremity, the femur in the abdominal. 3. A manubrium or handle, to use an expression of Galen, above the forearm, below the leg. 4. Lastly, digitated appendages which form, the extremities, properly so called, viz., the hand and the foot. Number of the Bones.—Authors do not agree respecting the number of the bones. Some, for instance, describe the sphenoid and the occipital as forming only one bone, while most anatomists consider them two distinct bones. Some admit three pieces in the sternum, which they describe separately. Many, after the example of the older writers, divide the haunch into three distinct bones—the pubes, the ischium, and the ileum: others recognise five pelvic or sacral vertebrae; three or five parts of the os hyoides; and, lastly, the ossa sesamoidea and the ossa wormiana- are omitted by some, but by others are reckoned in the enumeration of the bones. The ideas of certain modem authors with respect to the development of the bones, in- stead of dispelhng the uncertainty which attaches to the enumeration of the parts of the skeleton, have tended not a httle to increase the confusion, because many of them have made no distinction between bones, properly so called, and pieces of ossification. AH doubt, however, in this respect will cease, provided we consider as distinct bones only those portions of the skeleton which are separable at the time of complete development. The time at which the osseous system arrives at its perfect development is betweea the twenty-fifth and thirtieth year. According to these views, we may count in the human body 198 bcaies, viz.: Vertebral column, including the sacrum and coccyx .... 26 Craniimi 8 Face 14 Os hyoides 1 Thorax (ribs, sternum) 25 Superior extremities, each 32, viz., shoulder, arm, forearm, and hand 64 Inferior extremities, each 30, viz., pelvis, thigh, leg, and foot . . 60 198 This enumeration does not include the ossa wormiana, nor the ossa sesamoidea, among which we include the patella. Of these 198 bones, 34 only are single : all the others are in pairs, which reduces the number to be studied to 116. Before proceeding to examine each piece of the skeleton in particular, we shall state the method we intend to pursue in the description. The chief points embraced by de- tailed descriptions of a bone are, K Its name; 2. Its general situation; 3. Its direction; 4. Its bulk and weight; 5. Its figure; 6. Its regions; 7. Its relations; 8. Its internal conformation ; 9. Its intimate texture ; 10. Its development. Nomenclature.—Osteological nomenclature has many imperfections. Persuaded of the importance of a suitable choice of language in the study of all the sciences, some anatomists have endeavoured to introduce reforms, but with little success, the old de- nominations being still for the most part retained. From these modem systems of no- menclature we shall adopt only such terms as are strikingly appropriate, or such as have already been sanctioned by usage. VVe may here observe that the denominations of bones have been derived, 1. From their situation ; as the fronlal, which is so called be- cause it is situated in the forehead : 2. From a resemblance, usually very obscure, to some well-known object, as the bones named tibia, scaphoid, malleus, incus, stapes ; or to some geometrical figure, as the cuboid: 3. From their size ; as the os magnum of the carpus, and the small bones or ossiada of the ear: 4. Fi-oni some circumstance of their external conformation ; as the cribriform or ethmoid bone, the unciform or hooked bone : 5. From the name of the author Avho first most carefully described them; as the ossicles of Ber- tin, of Morgagni—swings of Ingrassias, &c. General Situation of Bones.—The situation of a bone is determined by comparing the place which it occupies with that occupied by other bones of the skeleton. In order to make this comparison, the skeleton is supposed to be surrounded by certain planes, which are thus denominated: 1. An anterior plane, passing before the forehead, the breast, and the feet; 2. A posterior plane, passing behind the occiput and the heels ; 3. A superior plane, placed horizontally above the head ; 4. An inferior plane, which passes be- low the soles of the feet; 5 and 6. The two lateral planes, which complete the sort of case or parallelepiped with which we suppose the skeleton to be surrounded. Lastly, the skeleton being symmetrical, i. e., exactly divisible into two similar halves, we admit a seventh imaginary plane, the median or antero-posterior, separating these two halves. By the term median line is understood an imaginary line traced so as to mark exteriorly the division of all the symmetrical bone= of the skeleton into two similax halves.
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