Anatomy for artists / by John Marshall ; illustrated by two hundred original drawings by J.S. Cuthbert, engraved by J. and G. Nicholls.

  • Marshall, John, 1818-1891.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Anatomy for artists / by John Marshall ; illustrated by two hundred original drawings by J.S. Cuthbert, engraved by J. and G. Nicholls. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

    444/464 (page 424)
    and posterior. The head, with the lower jaw suspended in front, by its muscles and ligaments, is held in equilibrio, by the sub-occipital muscles, the eomi^lexi, the splenii capitis and the trapczii behind, and by the trachelo- mastoids and sterno-mastoids at the sides. The last-named muscles also support the sternum and collar bone in front, and with the scaleni, subclavii, and levatores costarum, sustain the weight of the thorax; whilst the levator anguli scapulae, the rhomboids, the great serratus, the lesser pectoral, and the trapezius, serve to attach or carry the moveable shoulder girdle. Lastly, the muscles of the upper limb, from the scapular group, the deltoid, the latis- simus dorsi and the greater pectoral, down to the muscles of the arm, fore- arm and hand, act upon, and command, from the trunk outwards, the lighter bony framework of this prehensile member. In these numerous, distinct, but co-ordinated acts, does the maintenance of the upright posture really consist. The muscles of the lower limb, princi- pally engaged in erecting the body, are placed, alternatel}^ behind and in front, the muscles of the calf behind the ankle and leg, the triceps extensor in front of the knee and thigh, and the massive gluteal muscles behind the hip and pelvis; and, in each case, these are the most powerful muscles of the region in which they are situated. The erector muscles of the spine, and the recti of the abdomen are also very strong, and so are the numerous muscles which siipport the head from behind. ' Besides maintaining the body in the erect postiu'e, the muscles of the trunk and limbs, are engaged in the various acts of locomotion, in lifting and carrying weights, in striking blows in offence or defence, and in every other kind of external work ; and they are also concerned in expressional move- ments, quite as essential as those which affect the face, as is seen in the stamping of the feet by children in a passion, by the shrugging of the shoulders, the outspread arms, the tu]-ning of the back, the wave of the hand, the uplifted, averted, or drooped head. But, as already indicated, the subjects of Animal Mechanics, Kinetics, and Expression must be postponed to another occasion. On comparing the disposition of the muscles in the two limbs, it is seen that those of the lower limb are very definitely limited at their junction with the trunk, as for example, along the crest of the ilium, and the pubic and ischiatic margins, just as the root of the limb itself appears to be well marked on the surface; for, with the exception of the deep-seated psoas muscles, the little pyriformis, and a few fasciculi of the great gluteus, not a single muscle of this limb reaches higher up than the pelvis, no others having attachments to the vertebral column. On the contrary, there are muscles connected with the upper limb, the more highly endowed and more freely moveable extremity, which proceed from the back, and from the front and sides of the trunk, from the pelvis, the whole length of the spine, the skull, the ribs and the sternum, as, for example, the latissiijius dorsi, the trapezius, the serratus magnus.