The muscles of the fore and hind limbs in Dasypus sexcinctus / by John Charles Galton.

  • Galton, John Charles.
Date:
[1868]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The muscles of the fore and hind limbs in Dasypus sexcinctus / by John Charles Galton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Rhomboidei.—T\iQ&Q muscles appear to have been fused together into one, and are, moreover, scarcely to be differentiated from the upper portion at origin of the latissimus dorsi. They take origin from the spines of the six upper dorsal vertebrae—that part which arises from the two uppermost being fleshy from the beginning, while the rest of the muscle takes origin from an aponeurosis continuous with that from which the loMs- simus dorsi arises. They are inserted into the whole length of the base of the scapula. This fusion of the rhomhoidei into one muscle occurs, according to Church \ in animals as high in the scale as the Orang and Chimpanzee. MeckeP, however, describes these muscles as distinct in the Armadillo, the anterior passing to the occiput, the posterior being fused with the latissimus dorsi. Henle states^ that Albinus has seen the rhomboideus major fused with the upper edge of the latissimus dorsi in Man. Occi'pito-scapular.—This muscle, which is slightly, but not very clearly, indicated by Cuvier* as the “ rhomboide de la tete,” is enormously developed. It arises from the whole extent of the occipital crest, being covered by that portion of the trapezi/us which takes origin here, and is inserted, partly into the fascia covering the supraspinatus, partly into the upper angle of the base of the scapula. Each muscle meets with its fellow in the middle line. This muscle, I think, answers to one which Mr. Wood has described® under the same title as having occurred as an “ abnormality ” in Man. The same author found a like muscle in the Rabbit, which resembles that described by Krause, in his monograph upon the same animal®, as the “ levator scapulse minor,” except that the latter is inserted as low down as the inferior angle of the scapula. A similar muscle has been found by Mr. Mivart and Dr. Murie in the Hare and Guinea-pig, as well as in the Rabbit, and is termed by them “ rhomboideus capitis ” \ Levator scapulae.—This appears to be a muscle distinct from the preceding. It is very fleshy, and takes origin from certain of the lower cervical vertebrae; it is in- serted into the inner face of the superior angle of the scapula, and also along the pos- terior half of the superior costa of the bone. Cuvier notices this latter mode of insertion®, and remarks that in mammals the muscle is rarely distinct from the serratus magnus, of which it is, properly speaking, but an anterior offset. MeckeP describes this muscle as entirely distinct from the serratus magnus.^ of which, however, it appears at first sight to be a factor. Turner, London, 1863, p. 91. Herbert Spencer, ‘ Principles of Biology,’ vol. i. p. 387, London, 1864; vol. ii. p. 359, London, 1867. ' Natural History Review, no. iv. Oct. 1861, p. 511. “ Syst. der vergleicb. Anat. (HaUe, 1828), dritt. TheU, p. 483. ® MuskeUebre, p. 27 : Braunschweig, 1858. Oj3. dt. pi. 259. fig. 2. ® Proc. Roy. Soc. May, 1867, p. 520. ® Anatomic des Kaninchens (Leipzig, 1865), p. 104. ’’ “ Anatomy of the Crested Agouti,” Proc. Zool. Soc. June 1866, p. 393. * Legons d’Anatomic Comparee, 2“® ed. Paris, 1835, tom. 1. p. 370. ® Op. dt. p. 478. 4 D 2