FOOT

the end‘ portion of the leg, upon which animals rest when standing or walking; in man, more particularly, that part of the lower limb beyond the ankle, There are certain superficial Jandmarks which may be noted. At the inner side of the ankle the internal malleolus, part of the tibia, may be easily felt, while at the outer side, slightly farther back and lower, is the external malleolus, part of the fibula. Behind the malleoli on either side tendons are seen pa ing from the muscles on the leg above to the foot, the most noticeable being the tendon Achiillie pa ing to the back of the heel. On the front of the foot a nerve may be made out, the musculo-cutaneous nerve, beneath the skin, which goes to the toes, and a venous arch also pa es acro the front, conveying the blood from the foot to the superficial blood-ve els of the leg. The ankle joint is formed by the tibia and fibula of the leg and the tarsal bones of the foot. The tarsal bones are seven in number, roughly of a cubical form, the uppermost, or astragalus, articulating with the leg bones, below it being the os calcis or heel bone, and in front the scaphoid. In front of the scaphoid are three wedge-shaped bones, the three cuneiforms, and to their outer side, in front of the os calcis, is the cuboid. In front of the last four, which are in a more or le regular row, are five long metatarsal bones, and each metatarsal has in front of it three phalanges (in the great toe, two only) or bones of the toes. Between each of the bones are surfaces covered with cartilage, forming slightly movable joints, and the bones are strongly bound to one another by ligaments, whole tendons from the muscles of the leg come round the bones to be attached at different points, and also serve to a ist in holding them in place. The movements of the foot are brought about by the muscles of the leg, the tendons of which act upon the different bones of the foot to which they are attached. The muscles of the calf are attached to the os calcis by the strong tendon Achilles, while from other muscles on the back of the leg come one tendon attached to the scaphoid, and another which is attached below the great toe and makes it turn upwards, those tendons pa ing on the internal side of the leg. On the external side there is a tendon which goes to be attached to the outer metatarsal bone, and another which runs acro the sole of the foot to be attached to the metatarsal bone of the great toe. On the front of the foot there are five tendon slips coming to the different toes from a muscle on the front of the leg, the action of which is to make them turn downwards, while there are also four slips from a little muscle which springs from the os calcis, which a ist in the same movement. It is by the combination of the actions of these tendons controlled by the muscles of the leg that the harmonious movements of the foot are brought about.