References to papers in anatomy : human and comparative / by John Struthers.

  • Struthers, John, 1823-1899.
Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: References to papers in anatomy : human and comparative / by John Struthers. 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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    than rudiments of hind legs entirely buried beneath the skin, so that one is inclined to suspect that these structures must admit of some other interpretation. Yet, approaching the inquiry with the most sceptical determination, one cannot help being convinced, as the dissection goes on, that these rudiments really are femur and tibia. The synovial capsule representing the knee-joint was too evident to be overlooked. An acetabular cartilage, synovial cavity, and head of femur, together represent the hip-joint. Attached to this femur is an apparatus of constant and strong ligaments, permitting and restraining movements in certain directions; muscles are present, some passing to the femur from distant parts, some proceeding immediately from the pelvic bone to the femur, by which movements of the thigh-bone are performed; and these ligaments and muscles present abundant instances of exact and interesting adaptation. But the movements of the femur are extremely limited, and in two of these whales the hip-joint was firmly anchylosed, in one of them on one side, in -the other on both sides, without trace of disease, showing that these movements may be dispensed with. The function point of view fails to account for the presence of a femur in addition to processes from the pelvic bone. Alto- gether, these hind legs in this whale present for contemplation a most interesting instance of those significant parts in an animal—rudimentary structures.” [Some of the specimens described in the above Paper have been presented by the author to the British Museum and to the Anatomical Museums of the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen; the remainder are in the author’s private collection.] 47. On the Processus Supra-Condyloideus Humeri of Man. (Transactions of the International Medical Congress, London, 1881, vol. i.) Contents.—Short notice of the facts concerning the process, illustrated by numerous specimens from the author’s col- lection which he desired to lay before the Anatomists