An excerpt from the article by Parsons FG. The joints of mammals compared with those of man: a course of lectures delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1899, pp. 301-306). The paper discusses the anatomy and presence of the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF) in different animals. The author found in an experiment that in kangaroos, the LCF was stretched during hip extension. Below we publish an excerpt from the abstract and a critique of the lecture in the Lancet.
THEJOINTS OF MAMMALS
COMPARED WITH THOSE OF MAN: A COUBSE OF LECTURES DELIVERED AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE
OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND.
By F. G. PARSONS,
F.R.C.S., late Hunterian Professor.
PART II.-JOINTS OF THE
HIND LIMB.
THE HIP JOINT.
SOME of the chief
points which attract attention in the hip joint of man are the three thickened
parts of the capsule called the ilio-femoral, ischio-femoral, and pubo-femoral
ligaments, as well as the intra-articular ligamentum teres running from the
bottom of the acetabulum to the head of the femur, and otherwise free in the
interior of the joint. In the anthropoid apes the same thickenings of the
capsule are found, and it is even said (Keith [Arthur Keith].) that they are somewhat more prominent than in man. There is no doubt
that the ligamentum teres is constantly present in the gorilla, chimpanzee, and
gibbon, and it is a most remarkable thing that it is usually absent in the
orang. In this museum there are the hip joints of two orange, in one of which
there is a fossa on the head of the femur where the ligament, if it had been
present, would have been attached, while in the other specimen there is no such
mark. In both these preparations the cotyloid notch and transverse ligament are
present as in man.
In the lower or
cynomorphine monkeys the ligamentum teres is always present, and resembles the
same structure in man, though it seems almost certain to me that it can never
be put on the stretch. The three thickened parts of the capsule are present,
but are not so well defined as in man; the ilio-femoral band can easily be made
out, but its Y-shaped appearance is not evident; I believe that its prominence
in the higher apes and monkeys must be a physiological result connected in some
way with the conversion of the hind limb from a supporting to a brachiating
organ, since, as we shall see, it is not present in lower mammals. It can
hardly be an adaptation to the erect position, since in the anthropoids the
line of the centre of gravity of the body does not fall behind the centre of
the hip joint, as in man, and the semi-erect position is assisted by the
contact of the knuckles with the ground. In man, however, it undoubtedly
assists in maintaining the erect posture. I have been unable to find any
evidence to support Bland Sutton's ingenious suggestion that it is in any way
connected with the presence or absence of the gluteus quartus (ventralis). The
only proof that the ilio-femoral band is a degenerated gluteus quartus which
would be at all convincing to me would be to see one or more human subjects in
which the gluteus quartus is present and the ilio-femoral ligament absent,
though how the erect position would be maintained in such a case I do not know.
In the lemur the hip
joint corresponds with that of the lower monkeys, and the ligamentum teres is
present and well-marked. In the Cheiroptera the fruit bat (Pteropus) has the
hip twisted in such a way that the original front of the knee looks back-wards
and outwards and the plantar surface of the foot forwards. The lesser
trochanter is therefore on the outer side; it is situated inside the capsule of
the joint, and has an articular summit. When the foot is moved toward the
mouth, i.e. when the hip is flexed and abducted, this trochanter comes in
contact with an articular surface just above the acetabulum, reminding one
somewhat of the antitrochanter of birds. There is a well-marked ligamentum
teres, which is short, though it never appears to be put upon the stretch.
Anyone who has watched a fruit bat taking a grape or other fruit will readily
see that this twisting of the hip is an adaptation to allow the knee to flex
forward and the foot to be brought into contact with the mouth; the foot in
this way is able to take the place of the hand, which in this case has been
converted into an organ of flight. In the insectivorous bat (Plecotus), the
need of using the foot as a hand is not so great, and we do not find the hip so
completely twisted round as in the fruit bat; indeed, the knee looks more
outward than backward, and the lesser trochanter does not articulate with the
ilium. As in Pteropus, the ligamentum teres is well marked.
In the Insectivora,
both the mole and the hedgehog have no ligamentum teres: the latter is one of
several instances which cause me to doubt the universal validity of Bland
Sutton's statement that " those mammals in whom a ligamentum teres is
absent also lack a gleno-humeral band," because the hedgehog certainly
does possess a gleno-humeral band.
In the Carnivora, as in
most of the lower mammals, the capsule of the hip is not specially thickened at
any one point the ligamentum teres, however, is thick and well-marked in the
land Carnivora, at least it is so to my knowledge in the Felidae (eat, leopard,
lion), Viverridae (civet, genet, ichneumon, and suricate), Hyaenidae (Hyaerna
striata), Procyonidae (P. lotor), Canidae (dog and fox), Ursidae (black bear),
and Mustelidae (poleсat, stoat, weasel, and
otter). It is stated to be absent in the sea otter (Enhydra marina), though it
is certainly present in the common otter (Lutra vulgaris). It is absent in the
walrus (richecus rosmarus) and the seal (Phoca vitulina), which are the only
two specimens of the aquatic carnivores (Pinnipedia) I have observed.
In the Ungulata, the
horse, as Bland Sutton has pointed out, has the ligamentum teres divided into
two parts, the upper of which, the cotyloid portion, corresponds to the usual
ligamentum teres of mammals; while the lower part, which Chauveau and he term
the pubio-femoral portion, passes out through the cotyloid notch and runs
forwards and inwards to join the linea alba at its junction with the pubes. It
is perhaps doubtful whether it is advisable to speak of this portion of the
ligamentum teres as pubio-femoral, because it suggests an identity with the
pubo-femoral part of the capsule, a suggestion which, as fat as I know, is not
intended; probably abdomino-femoral would be a better name. In the ox, sheep,
deer, antelope, and chevrotain this abdomilio-femoral ligament is not seen,
though the rest of the ligamentum teres is well marked. In the goat a large part
of the ligament passes out of the cotyloid notch, and is attached to the dorsal
part of the capsule after the manner described later in Pedetes. In the
rhinoceros, according to Sutton, the ligamentum teres is absent, but I have
never had the opportunity of dissecting this animal. In the elephant, specimens
in this Museum show that it is wanting in both the Indian and African species.
In Hyrax, Bland Sutton failed to find the ligament, but in my specimen the
arrangement was interesting; it was attached by a vertical linear fold to the lower
half of the head of the femur; this fold was not entirely free in the joint
cavity, but its lower edge was continuous with the lower part of the capsule.
When the ligament reached the acetabulum, the greater part of it was continued
out through the cotyloid notch, and was attached to the pubes outside the joint;
it thus corresponded with the abdomino-femoral band in the horse, and is a
point in favour of Bland Sutton's contention that the ligamentum teres is the
continuation of some extra-capsular structure. There is a similar specimen in
the Museum of this College which shows very much the same arrangement.
In the Rodentia the
ligamentum teres is, as far as I know, always present, at least I have found it
in a fairly large and representative series of animals.
In the Cape jumping
hare (Pedetes cafer) it was a somewhat delicate structure, and, as in the goat,
horse, and Hyrax, passed out of the joint through the cotyloid notch, but
instead of turning ventralwards to the abdomen, or being attached to the pubes,
as in the two latter animals, it turned backwards and became continuous with
the dorsal part of the capsule, which it tended to tighten in extreme flexion
of the joint. The capsule of the hip in this animal suddenly became very thin
just before its attachment to the neck of the femur, so that the outer edge of
the thick part forms a sphincter round the neck, and it is this sphincter which
is drawn tight by the ligamentum teres during extreme flexion. This may
possibly be an adaptation to the jumping habits of the animal, but it is
certainly another instance of the continuity of the ligamentum teres with extra
capsular structures.
It is interesting to
notice in this connection that some of the human anatomy text-books remark that
fibres of the ligamentum teres are continued out of the hip through the
cotyloid notch.
In the Edentata, Bland
Sutton found the ligamentum teres absent in the sloth and pangolin. In the
latter animal I can confirm his observations from a specimen in this Museum, as
well as from a dissection of my own. In both the two-toed (Cholcepus) and
three-toed sloths (Bradypus) his experience agrees with my own, but in the
lesser ant-eater (Tamandua tetradacyla) the ligament is present and free in the
joint, although it consists chiefly of synovial membrane without fibrous
tissue. In the armadillo the arrangement of the ligamentum teres was identical
with that already recorded in Hyrax, but the lower part of the head of the
femur shows a vertical notch as if the sphere was not completed here. This
points to the truth of the
theory that the
ligamentum teres is originally continuous with the capsule, but is cut off by
the "confluence of the lateral wings of the caput femoris," as Keith [Arthur Keith] says. It is, at all events, quite evident that one
must not jump to the conclusion that absence of the ligamentum teres is a
characteristic of the Edentata, though when it is present in them, it is
usually in a rudimentary condition.
In the Marsupialia the
ligamentum teres seems to be constant and well-marked. I have found it in the
Kangaroos (Macropus rufus and Petrogale xanthopus), and as far as I could
determine, it was put on the stretch during extension of the hip in these animals.
It was also seen in the native bear (Phascolarctus), the Tasmanian devil
(Dasyurus), the flying and ground phalangers, and the bandicoot (Perameles).
 |
| FIG. 1. Hip joint of Armadillo (Dasypus). a, head of femur; b, ligamentumn teres; c, capsule cut. |
In the Monotremata
(Ornithorhynchus and Echidna) there is no ligamentum teres, nor could I find
any trace of such a structure.
Summary of the Hip
Joint. The ventral part of the capsule is thickened in man and the anthropoids
to form the ilio-femoral ligament; this thickening gradually disappears in the
lower monkeys. In the quadrupeds the dorsal part of the capsule is generally
the thickest. The ligamentum teres may be entirely absent, is in the orang, the
hedgehog and mole (? other Insectivora), the Pinnipedia, the elephant, sloth,
pangolin, and the Monotremata, though I cannot think of anything common to all
these animals which could account for its absence, beyond the fact that they
are all slow movers. When the ligament it present it may be free in the joint
as in most mammals, partially fused with the pubic portion of the capsule, as
in the Hyrax and the armadillo, or -some of it may be traced to the outer side
of the capsule through the cotyloid notch, as in the goat, horse, Hyrax, and
Cape jumping hare.
Taking these two latter
groups into consideration, the presumption is that the ligamentum teres was
originally an extracapsular tendon or other fibrous band which was attached
below the head of the femur, and gradually pushed its way into the interior of
the joint cavity through the pubic part of the capsule. (In reference to this,
see Sutton on 'Ligaments,' p. 40.).
ABSTRACTS OF Three Lectures
ON THE JOINTS OF
MAMMALS CONTRASTED WITH THOSE OF MAN.
Delivered before the
Royal College of Surgeons of England on
March 6th, 8th, and 10th, 1899, BY F. G. PARSONS, F.R.C.S. ENG., HUNTERIAN PROFESSOR.
LECTURE II.
Delivered on March 8th,
1899.
…
The lecturer had been
unable to find any evidence supporting the theory that the ilio-femoral
ligament represented a degenerated [m.] scansorius or gluteus quartus muscle;
he regarded the ligament in question as a thickening of the capsule due to the
gradual assumption of the erect posture. The presence of the ligamentum teres
was next drawn attention to and it was shown to be absent in the orang, many
Insectivora, the Pinnipede Carnivora, a few of the Ungulata, some of the
Edentata, and both examples of the Monotremata. The lecturer expressed his
ignorance of the factors which determine the presence or absence of this
structure, but stated that it did not necessarily vary with the presence or
absence of the gleno-humeral ligament of the shoulder. In the Cape hyrax and
the armadillo, the ligament was shown to be continuous with the pubic portion
of the capsule instead of being free in the joint, while in some animals, such
as the horse, goat, hyrax, and Cape jumping hare, it was continuous through the
cotyloid notch with extra-capsular structures-a fact tending to confirm
Sutton’s view that the ligamentum teres was the remnant of an extra-capsular
muscle. (The Lancet. March 18, 1899, p. 753).
External
links
Parsons FG. The joints of mammals compared with those of man: a course of lectures delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Journal of anatomy and physiology. 1899;34(Pt 2)301-323. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Annotations of three lectures On the joints of mammals
compared with those of man. The
Lancet. March 18, 1899:752-3. scholar.archive.org
Authors
& Affiliations
Frederick Gymer
Parsons (Фредерик Гимер Парсонс, 1863-1943) was
a British writer and scientist. wikipedia.org
 |
| Mr. Frederick Gymer Parsons (23 June 1897). Lafayette, Dublin; Labeled group photo of a congress of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland in Dublin from The Sketch, Vol. XVIII, No. 230, June 23, 1897, page 339; original in the wikimedia.org (CC0 – Public Domain, no changes). |
Keywords
ligamentum capitis femoris, ligamentum teres, ligament of head of femur, anatomy, animals, role, absence
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