A manual of the dissection of the human body / [Luther Holden].

  • Luther Holden
Date:
1849-1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of the dissection of the human body / [Luther Holden]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    81/128 (page 65)
    Immediately above the crest of the ilium, between the free margins of the latissimus dorsi and external oblique muscles, there is commonly an interval in which the internal oblique is exposed. 106. The fascia lumborum is a dense shining aponeurosis in the lumbar region, thin and pointed at its upper part, broader and very strong at its lower. It consists of an intertexture of tendinous fibres, which are attached to the spines of the six or seven lower dorsal, all the lumbar and sacral vertebree, and to the posterior part of the crest of the ilium. It is the common bond of attachment of the latissimus dorsi, the serratus posticus inferior, and the internal oblique and transverse muscles of the abdomen, and it forms the posterior part of the sheath of the great erector spinae. Make a vertical incision through the fascia, and reflect it in order to see how inseparably it is connected on the outer side of the erector spinae with the tendons of the internal oblique and transversalis which pass in front of the erector spinae to the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae. Reflect the trapezius from its origin. On its under surface will be observed the ramifications of a small artery, called the superfi- cialis colli (a branch of the posterior scapular). A large nerve, the spinal accessory, also enters its under surface near the clavicle, and then divides into filaments, some of which ascend, others descend in its substance. 107. The spinal accessory nerve is one of the three divisions of the eighth pair of cerebral nerves. It arises from the posterior and lateral part of the cervical portion of the spinal cord by several roots, of which the lowest are opposite the fourth cervical vertebra. Formed by the union ol these roots, the nerve enters the skull through the foramen magnum, and leaves it again through the foramen jugulare. It then descends behind the internal jugular vein, traverses obliquely the upper third of the sterno-mastoid muscle, and crosses the posterior triangle of the neck to reach the trapezius, in which it terminates. The trapezius is also supplied by one or two branches of the cer¬ vical plexus, which communicate in its substance with the iiervus accessorius. Beneath the trapezius there remain to be examined four muscles