Metatarsal

“ If one only is diseased, with the base of the metacarpal or metatarsal bone attached to it, the removal of these will be enough, and can be accomplished without difficulty. Some have recommended the total extirpation of a metacarpal or metatarsal bone, leaving the finger or toe appended; but the member, when thus left unsupported, can never become of any service to the patient, and may be productive of much inconvenience; whilst removal of them, along with the diseased bone, renders the operation much more easy of execution. ”

“ Fracture of the metatarsal bones is liable to be followed by traumatic flat foot, on account of the sinking of the arch, or painful large calluses forming on the sole of the foot may interfere with walking.
Treatment. The treatment in such fractures is by immobilization in a posterior metal or plaster splint, for four weeks. If there is continual pain upon walking after the injury, a steel insole will often give relief. The treatment of compound fractures of the metatarsal bones does not differ from that of other bones. ”

“ The metatarsals and digits, on the other hand, are proportionally longer and more slender, while the great toe is not only proportionally shorter and weaker, but its metatarsal bone is united by a more moveable joint with the tarsus. At the same time, the foot is set more obliquely upon the leg than in man. ”

“ Amputation of a single metatarsal bone, on the outside or inside of the foot, is to be done by an incision round the root of the toe, terminating in a line on the outside of the foot, which is continued down to the joint of the tarsus. The integuments are turned back above and below from the metatarsal bone, which is to be dissected out, with the toe attached to it, and the flaps brought together so as to leave but one line of incision. In military surgery, there is always a wound ”

“ The tarsal and metatarsal bones are united so as to give the foot an arched form, convex above, and concave 45 below. This structure conduces to the elasticity of the step, and the weight of the body is transmitted to the ground by the spring of the arch, in a manner which prevents injury to the numerous organs.
111. Describe the metatarsal bones. Explain fig. 19. What is represented by fig. 20? What is said of the arrangement of the bones of the foot?
112. The PHALANGES (fig. 19) are composed of fourteen bones; each of the small toes has three ranges of bones, while the great toe has but two. ”

“ The proximal tarsal bones are always ankylosed to the tibia, and the distal tarsals to the metatarsals, so that the ankle joint is intertarsal. The first [297] metatarsal is nearly always free. The pes never has more than four digits in the adult. ”

“ The tibia and fibula commonly unite to some extent, and the former, as it now exists in adult Birds, is strictly a "tibio-tarsus," since with it is fused the proximal portion of the originally existing tarsal elements. Similarly the distal tarsal {10}elements unite with the metatarsus, which is therefore properly a "tarso-metatarsus," though often called merely "tarsus" by ornithologists. This arises from a fusion of the second, third, and fourth metatarsal bones, which in the adult (except among the Sphenisci and to some extent in Psittaci) do not lie in the same plane ”

“ Heels overlap when hind limbs adpressed; tibiotarsal articulation reaches to middle of eye; no tarsal fold; inner metatarsal tubercle large, flat, and elliptical; outer metatarsal tubercle slightly more distal than inner, small, and elliptical ”

“ It seems to me that these three bones were all that were in the metatarsus, and that the creature was tridactyle; but of course there may be reason not to trust too much to one case for proof of a negative. Still that seems to me the probable inference. As we have plenty of information about the femur, tibia (fibula?) , metatarsals, and claw-bone, the reconstruction of the animal seems now practicable. ”

“ Hindlimbs slender; tibiotarsal articulation reaches nostril when hindlimb is adpressed along body; lateral metatarsalia separated by webbing; inner metatarsal tubercle distinct, no outer metatarsal tubercle ”

“ In form and size the metatarsals of any given mammal are usually so like the metacarpals, that it requires some experience to distinguish them, but when either manus or pes is especially adapted to some particular kind of work, there may be very decided differences between metatarsals and metacarpals. ”

“ Finally, the cuboid, the external element of the second row, is a large bone, which supports the calcaneum and often part of the astragalus and to which the fourth and fifth metatarsals are attached; it is the equivalent of the unciform in the manus. The number of tarsals is more constant than that of the carpals, but some suppressions and coössifications do occur.
The long bones of the pes constitute the metatarsus, which is the counterpart of the metacarpus. There are never more than five metatarsals in any normal mammal, but there may be any number less than five, down to a single one. ”

“ The metatarsals of a bird have to bear no appreciable strains but those due to the superincumbent weight. Standing in the water does not appreciably alter such strains; and even if it did, an increase in the lengths of these bones would not fit them any better to meet the altered strains. ”

“ And how should the semiluftars hinder the regress of spirits from the aorta upon each supervening diastole of the heart? Above all, how can they say that the spirituous blood is sent from the pulmonary veins by the left ventricle into the lungs without any obstacle to its passage from the mitral valves, when they have previously asserted that the air entered by the same vessel from the lungs into the left ventricle, and have brought forward these same mitral valves as obstacles to its retrogression? Good God! how should the mitral valves prevent the regurgitation of air and not of blood? ”

“ A bony ridge over the eye conduces to the fierce aspect, especially in the larger species. The feet are robust and well-fitted for grasping, and are enormously developed in Thrasaëtus; the metatarsus is much flattened, and may be scutellated or reticulated, though the scales are usually smaller behind; the tibia generally exceeds it in measurement, but in Accipitrine forms is nearly equal, giving them a long-legged appearance. Elongated bare metatarsi are characteristic of Circus, Polyboroïdes, and the Polyborinae. The claws are sharp and curved, especially in Rostrhamus ”

“ In affections of the mitral valve the effect is felt primarily by the left auricle, which is a thin walled structure incapable of undergoing the requisite increase in power to resist the backward flow through the mitral orifice in case of leakage, or to overcome the effects of obstruction in case of stenosis. The back pressure is therefore transmitted to the pulmonary circulation, and as the right ventricle is responsible for maintaining the flow of blood through the lungs, the strain and extra work fall on the right ventricle, which in turn enlarges and undergoes hypertrophy. ”

“ Every hour that passes finds it greater, until at length at night-time it reaches its worst intensity, and insinuates itself with most exquisite cruelty among the numerous small bones of the tarsus and metatarsus, in the ligaments of which it is lurking. ”

“ The murmur of mitral stenosis is very rarely, if ever, conveyed to the left of the apex-beat, and it is rarely heard more than two inches to the right of the apex. The second sound of the heart is intensified over the pulmonary valves. When mitral reflux and mitral obstruction coexist, the two murmurs run into each other, constituting a single murmur that may be mistaken for a systolic murmur. The harsh character of the presystolic element of the murmur can always be recognized. ”

“ The power which they possess in causing the contraction of living blood-vessels may be witnessed in a similar way. The astringent solution may be applied to the web of a frog's foot, confined in an extended position. This web is traversed in all directions by minute ramifying capillaries; and these are found gradually to diminish in caliber. In the same way as the mechanical irritation of a small artery will act upon the unstriped muscular fibre contained in its coat, and thus cause the vessel to contract at one point ”

“ Mitral lesions—incompetence or stenosis—are very common causes which act by increasing the resistance in the pulmonary veins and obstructing the free flow of blood in capillaries of the lung. To compensate for this defect the walls of the right ventricle increase in size, and the hypertrophy at first may be unattended with dilatation. ”

“ The arteria venalis hath two valves called mitrales, because they are like a bishop’s mitre. They look from without inward to let in blood carried from the vena arterialis. They are bigger than those of vena cava and have longer filaments and to strengthen them many fleshy snippets are joined together. ”

“ The superior mediastinum is bounded by a plane passing through the lower part of the body of the dorsal vertebra behind and the junction of the manubrium and the gladiolus in front. Its upper limit corresponds to the superior aperture of the thorax. The contents of this space are the transverse portion of the arch of the aorta and its three large branches, the trachea and oesophagus, the thoracic duct, the innominate veins, upper part of the superior vena cava, left recurrent laryngeal nerve, phrenic, pneumogastric, and cardiac nerves, with lymphatic glands and remains of the thymus body. ”