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Home  »  Anatomy of the Human Body  »  pages 445

Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.

pages 445

of two aponeurotic laminæ, one of which is subcutaneous and covers the back of the lower half of the muscle; the other is more deeply seated in the substance of the muscle. After receiving the attachment of the muscular fibers, the two lamellæ join together above the elbow, and are inserted, for the most part, into the posterior portion of the upper surface of the olecranon; a band of fibers is, however, continued downward, on the lateral side, over the Anconæus, to blend with the deep fascia of the forearm.
  The long head of the Triceps brachii descends between the Teres minor and Teres major, dividing the triangular space between these two muscles and the humerus into two smaller spaces, one triangular, the other quadrangular (Fig. 412). The triangular space contains the scapular circumflex vessels; it is bounded by the Teres minor above, the Teres major below, and the scapular head of the Triceps laterally. The quadrangular space transmits the posterior humeral circumflex vessels and the axillary nerve; it is bounded by the Teres minor and capsule of the shoulder-joint above, the Teres major below, the long head of the Triceps brachii medially, and the humerus laterally.

Variations.—A fourth head from the inner part of the humerus; a slip between Triceps and Latissimus dorsi corresponding to the Dorso-epitrochlearis.
  The Subanconæus is the name given to a few fibers which spring from the deep surface of the lower part of the Triceps brachii, and are inserted into the posterior ligament and synovial membrane of the elbow-joint.

Nerves.—The Triceps brachii is supplied by the seventh and eighth cervical nerves through the radial nerve.

Actions.—The Triceps brachii is the great extensor muscle of the forearm, and is the direct antagonist of the Biceps brachii and Brachialis. When the arm is extended, the long head of the muscle may assist the Teres major and Latissimus dorsi in drawing the humerus backward and in adducting it to the thorax. The long head supports the under part of the shoulder-joint. The Subanconæus draws up the synovial membrane of the elbow-joint during extension of the forearm.
 
7e. The Muscles and Fasciæ of the Forearm
 

Antibrachial Fascia (fascia antibrachii; deep fascia of the forearm).—The antibrachial fascia continuous above with the brachial fascia, is a dense, membranous investment, which forms a general sheath for the muscles in this region; it is attached, behind, to the olecranon and dorsal border of the ulna, and gives off from its deep surface numerous intermuscular septa, which enclose each muscle separately. Over the Flexor tendons as they approach the wrist it is especially thickened, and forms the volar carpal ligament. This is continuous with the transverse carpal ligament, and forms a sheath for the tendon of the Palmaris longus which passes over the transverse carpal ligament to be inserted into the palmar aponeurosis. Behind, near the wrist-joint, it is thickened by the addition of many transverse fibers, and forms the dorsal carpal ligament. It is much thicker on the dorsal than on the volar surface, and at the lower than at the upper part of the forearm, and is strengthened above by tendinous fibers derived from the Biceps brachii in front, and from the Triceps brachii behind. It gives origin to muscular fibers, especially at the upper part of the medial and lateral sides of the forearm, and forms the boundaries of a series of cone-shaped cavities, in which the muscles are contained. Besides the vertical septa separating the individual muscles, transverse septa are given off both on the volar and dorsal surfaces of the forearm, separating the deep from the superficial layers of muscles. Apertures exist in the fascia for the passage of vessels and nerves; one of these apertures of large size, situated at the front of the elbow, serves for the passage of a communicating branch between the superficial and deep veins.
  The antibrachial or forearm muscles may be divided into a volar and a dorsal group.

1. The Volar Antibrachial Muscles—These muscles are divided for convenience of description into two groups, superficial and deep.