Skip to main content

1794(a)SommerringT

 

Fragments from the book Soemmerring ST. De Corporis Humani Fabrica. T.1. (1794). The author describes the attachment and role ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF). Cases of its absence are mentioned, in particular in osteoarthritis. We have added links to quotations about LCF available on our resource, as well as to publications posted on the Internet. There is a known version of the treatise in German: 1791SoemmerringST.

Quote p. 301

§. CCCCXXVIII.

…Cavum acetabuli hemisphaericum non ubique cartilagine obducitur, sed ad tertiam fere partem nudum conspicitur, ideoque pars, cartilaginoso tegmine obducta, lunatam figuram refert. Mediae huius regionis parti impressio aspera imponitur, quae ligamentum, quod caput ossis femoris devincit, excipit. Reliquam cavi acetabuli partem, cartilagine nudam, tenuem, non nihil planiorem pinguedo explet.

Quote p. 373

§. DXXXXIIII.

…Caput cartilagine obductum, hemisphaerio non nihil maius, ambitum undulatum habet, ita, ut in superiore et posteriore parte in angulum porrigatur, ideoque ambitui acetabuli respondeat. In media fere capitis parte, non nihil tamen inferiora et interiora versus, aspera, cartilaginoso tegmine nudata fovea, ligamentum teres excipiens, ponitur. Media hemisphaerii pars axin colli tangit.

Quote pp. 377-378

§. DLII.

Os femoris inter omnia artuum inferiorum ossa plurimis varietatibus subiectum videtur. Nonnumquam valde longum est, sed tenue; nonnumquam vero longum et plenum simul. Rarissime fovea ligamenti teretis abest. *)

*) GENGA Anatom. chir. Romae 1687. SALZMANN Decas Obs. anat. Arg. 1725. 4. recus. in HALLERI Diss. select. T. VI. p. 694. In femoribus arthritide tactis, non raro ligamentum teres, eiusque vestigium in osse perditur, ut saepius observavi. cfr. BLUMENBACH medicinische Bibliothek, 3 Band.

Translation

[Eng]

Quote p. 301

§. CCCCXXVIII.

... The cavity of the acetabulum has a hemispherical shape and is not covered with cartilage everywhere; about a third of it remains bare, so the part covered with cartilage has a crescent shape. In the central part of this area is a rough depression that receives the ligament that binds the head of the femur. The rest of the acetabulum cavity, not covered by cartilage, is filled with a thin layer of fat, which slightly smoothes the surface.

Quote p. 373

§. DXXXXIII.

... The head of the femur, covered with cartilage, is slightly larger than a hemisphere and has a wavy edge, so that in the upper and posterior parts it forms an angle that corresponds to the contour of the acetabulum. Almost in the center of the head, but somewhat lower and closer to the inside, there is a rough fossa, not covered with cartilage, to which the round ligament is attached. The central part of the hemisphere touches the axis of the femoral neck.

Quote pp. 377-378

§. DLII.

Of all the bones of the lower extremities, the femur is subject to the greatest number of variations. Sometimes it is very long, but thin; sometimes, on the contrary, it is long and thick at the same time. Very rarely the fossa for the round ligament is missing. *)

*) GENGA Anatom. chir. Romae 1687. SALZMANN Decas Obs. anat. Arg. 1725. 4. recus. in HALLERI Diss. select. T.VI. p. 694. In femurs affected by arthritis, the round ligament and its trace on the bone are often lost, as I have repeatedly observed. see also BLUMENBACH medicinische Bibliothek, 3 Band.







External links

Soemmerring ST. De Corporis Humani Fabrica. Tomus Primus, De Ossibus. Traiecti Ad Moenum: Sumtibus Varrentrappii Et Wenneri, 1794. [digitale-sammlungen.de]

Soemmerring ST. Vom Bau des menschlichen Körpers. Bd. 1. Knochenlehre. Frankfurt am Main: bey Varrentrapp und Wenner, 1791. [digitale-sammlungen.de]


Authors & Affiliations

Samuel Thomas Soemmerring (Ritter von Soemmerring, Sömmerring und Soemmering (1755-1830) was a German anatomist, anthropologist, paleontologist and inventor, professor at the University of Mainz and Kasseler Collegium Carolinum. [wikipedia.org]


Samuel Thomas Soemmerring (1813)
Artist: Wendelin Moosbrugger
, original in the wikimedia.org collection
(CC0 – Public Domain, no changes)


Keywords

ligamentum capitis femoris, ligamentum teres, ligament of head of femur, anatomy, attachment, osteoarthritis, coxarthrosis, absence

                                                                    

NB! Fair practice / use: copied for the purposes of criticism, review, comment, research and private study in accordance with Copyright Laws of the US: 17 U.S.C. §107; Copyright Law of the EU: Dir. 2001/29/EC, art.5/3a,d; Copyright Law of the RU: ГК РФ ст.1274/1.1-2,7


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

LCF in 2026 (September)

  LCF in 2026 (September )  (Quotes from articles and books published in September   2026 mentioning the ligamentum capitis femoris)   Goetz, J. E., Hockman, J., & Willey, M. C. (2026). Rabbit models of hip dysplasia: a narrative review. Laboratory animal research , 42 (1), 32.   [i]   link.springer.com   Kahana-Rojkind, A. H., Strok, M. J., Walsh, E. G., Quesada-Jimenez, R., Kuhns, B. D., & Domb, B. G. (2026). Factors Associated With Return to Sport at Minimum 10-Year Follow-up in Athletes With Borderline Hip Dysplasia Undergoing Hip Arthroscopy With Capsular Plication. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine , 14 (9), 23259671261451218.   [ii]   journals.sagepub.com   Stanard, I., Almhanna, H., Al-Mahmodi, A. M. M., Kilroy, D., & Kumar, A. H. (2026). Comparative Analysis of Vascular Density in the Femoral Head Ligament of the Dog, Sheep, and Goat.  [iii]   oajr.org , researchgate.net   Hirt, J., Roshardt, ...

1785SandifortE

  Fragments from the book Sandifort E. Descriptio ossium hominis. (1785). The author briefly writes about the attachment of the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF). Quote p. 104 [Lat] Os ischium… … Qua spectat pelvim (a) os ischion æquabile est, modice cavatum, ab exteriore profunde sinuatum (b). Sinus hic, quem acetabulum vocant, maximus, sere rotundus, est, dividique potest in partes duas, alteram semilunarem quodammodo, cartilagine tectam (c), hinc æquabilem, alteram altius excavatam, asperam (d), glandulæ muciparæ sedem præbentem, & educentem ligamentum teres, quod capiti ossis femoris infigitur (e). … Quote p. 108-109 [Lat] Femoris os … … Caput magnum, globosum, cartilagine lævi incrustatum, oblique positum (b), id est, sursum introrsumque tendens, magnitudine & figura cum acetabulo (i) congruens, intra illud admittitur, illique alligatur per ligamentum teres, quod firmiter adhæret ab altera parte acetabulo, ab altera sinui profundo, inæquabili, qui in dicto capite est (k...

LCF in 2026 (August)

    LCF in 2026 (August )  (Quotes from articles and books published in  August   2026 mentioning the ligamentum capitis femoris)   Maldonado, D. R., Schab, A. R., & Domb, B. G. (2026). Improvement in Patient‐Reported Outcomes, High Rate of Return to Sport, and Secondary Surgery Rate Ranging From 0% to 9.8% After Hip Arthroscopy in Dancers and Athletes in Flexibility Sports: A Systematic Review. Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation , e70020.    [i]    arthroscopyjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com   Klingele, K., & Strub, D. (2026). Author Response: Considerations and Challenges in Open Reduction With Ligamentum Teres Reconstruction for Pediatric Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics .    [ii]    ovid.com   Quesada‐Jimenez, R., Rana, K., Strok, M. J., Kahana‐Rojkind, A. H., Burt, A. K., Sugarman, E. P., & Domb, B. G. (2026). Dual Labral and Ligamentum Ter...

18c.FontebassoF

  Fontebasso F, painting, Jacob wrestling with the angel (18th cent.).  Depicting the circumstances and mechanism of the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF) injury based on the description in the Book of Genesis: 25 And Ja cob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.  26 And when he saw that he could not pre vail against him, he struck against the hollow of his thigh ; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was put out of joint, as he was wrestling with him. … 33 Therefore do the children of Israel not eat the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day; because he struck against the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew that shrank.  ( 1922LeeserI , Genesis (Bereshit) 32:25-26,33) More about the plot in our work:  Ninth month, eleventh day  ( 2024АрхиповСВ. Девятый месяц, одиннадцатый день ). Francesco Fontebasso  – Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (18th cent.); original in the  matthiesenga...

Tiktaalik roseae

  TIKTAALIK ROSEAE The first truly tetrapod animal (Limbed tetrapods) is recognized as the lobe-finned fish Tiktaalik roseae (clade Elpistostegalia), discovered in rocks aged about 375 Ma (2006DaeschlerEB_JenkinsJrFA; 2008ShubinN; 2017ShubinN). Discoveries in recent years have allowed us to place the taxa of early tetrapodomorphs in the following order: Tinirau, Eusthenopteron, Megalichthys, Panderichthys, Qikiqtania, Tiktaalik, Elpistostege, Parmastega, Ventastega, Acanthostega, Elginerpeton, Ymeria, Ichthyostega (2022StewartTA_ShubinNH). The closest ancestor of Tiktaalik roseae, the fragments of the skeleton of which are relatively well preserved, is Panderichthys. Reconstruction of the prehistoric fish Pandericthys Author Tyler Rhodes; original in the  wikipedia.org   collection (license CC BY-SA 3.0, no changes). The shape of the skeleton of the pectoral fin and shoulder girdle suggests that Panderichthys rhombolepis "walked" (2006AhlbergPE_ClackJA). At the very least...

Homo ergaster

  HOMO ERGASTER The Homo ergaster species lived in Africa 1.8 million years ago and was alive until 600,000 years ago, likely becoming the ancestor of Homo erectus in Asia, Homo neanderthalensis in Europe, and Homo sapiens in Africa (1995CachelS_HarrisJ; 2005KleinR). Homo ergaster is occasionally equated with Homo erectus in publications (2013TattersallI). The most complete Homo ergaster skeleton belongs to an adolescent named "Turkana Boy" (KNM-WT 15000). The young man was between 8 and 12 years old (2010GravesRR_CunninghamDL; 2019BergmanJ). The age of this individual's remains is believed to be 1.6 million years (2007TattersallI). Turkana Boy (reconstruction) Author: Mettmann Neanderthal Museum; source:  wikimedia.org  collection (license CC BY-SA 4.0, no changes). The pelvis of specimen KNM-WT 15000 is well preserved. It shows ossified acetabulums. In turn, they have spacious acetabular fossae and wide acetabular notches. Based on these elements, it is possible to conc...

Human Children. Retelling of Chapter 10

      Short retelling of chapter 10 of the essay: Arkhipov S.V. Human Children: The Origins of Biblical Legends from a Physician's Perspective. Joensuu: Author's Edition, 2025. [In Russian]  Chapter 10. THE ARK AND THE CAVE The Book of Genesis does not specify where Noah lived before the flood, but it is plausible his home was in the "land of Nod." To save his family and terrestrial animals, Noah builds an ark measuring "three hundred cubits" long, "fifty cubits" wide, and "thirty cubits" high, coated with pitch inside and out. The vessel has three decks, a pyramidal roof, a side door, and a window, likely at the top. Noah loads his wife, three sons with their wives, and representatives of birds, reptiles, and "clean and unclean cattle." The text lists some "passengers": Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and mentions "beasts," "cattle," "creeping things," "flying creatures,"...

Homo neanderthalensis

  HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS Homo neanderthalensis flourished 500-30 thousand years ago in Europe and Asia. It is assumed that its ancestor could have been Homo ergaster or Homo heidelbergensis (2005KleinR). Homo sapiens neanderthalensis «Mr. N» Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann, fragment of the original photograph; source in the  wikimedia.org  collection (license CC BY-SA 4.0, no changes). Neanderthal, late type, the old man from La Chapelle-aux-Saints, reconstruction by M.M. Gerasimov; exposition of the Orlov Paleontological Museum (Moscow); photo by the author. A reconstruction of the pelvis of the Neanderthal "Kebara 2" (Israel), whose remains are dated to 64-59 Kya (2021AdegboyegaMT_WeaverTD), is known. The well-preserved right pelvic bone (Fig. 1) has a large acetabulum with fossa and acetabular notch, indicating the presence of ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF). Neanderthal pelvis, right acetabulum view from the lateral side (3-D model); original image on   sketchfab....

MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS

  MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS ( Erroneous and folkloric beliefs, folk and traditional stories...)  LCF in English Bibles   The first written mention of the LCF in humans is found in the  ancient Hebrew book – Bereshit (Genesis). In English translations of the Bible, LCF is denoted by various terms, often not explicitly referring to the «ligament».  The Shortest Comments on Genesis, Chap. XXXII-XXXIII  In the selected excerpt, the symptoms, mechanism, and differential diagnostic test for the injury to LCF are provided, along with details about the circumstances, time, and place of the biblical trauma.  1609-1583bcProtoBereshit  Hypothesis: in the work of fiction, an unknown physician-encyclopedist for the first time pointed out damage to the LCF as a cause of gait disturbance.  922-722bcElohist  A variant of the oldest description of damage to the LCF and the cause of lameness in Hebrew, dating from 922-722 BC.  8cent.bcHomer   The...

1878MarshallJ

  Fragments from the book Marshall J. Anatomy for artists (1878). The author discusses the anatomy and briefly the role of the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF): «… checks adduction of the thigh, or a sinking down of the pelvis upon the opposite side, and, possibly, also limits the reciprocal, horizontal rotatory movements of the femur and the pelvis on each other» .   Quote p. 65 The head of the femur is almost entirely received into the acetabulum, a deep socket of the hip-bone, thus forming the largest and most complete ball-and- socket joint in the body. At a point on the inner side of the head of the femur, a little below and also behind its centre, is a small rough, bifid , depression, for the attachment of the ligamentum teres of the hip-joint. Opposite this point, the head of the bone is, however, more prominent than elsewhere, and corresponds with a non- articular depressed portion of the acetabulum.   Quote p. 68 The ligamentum teres, which is attached by one en...