dots-menu
×

Home  »  Anatomy of the Human Body  »  pages 495

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

pages 495


The Fourth Layer

Interossei—The Interossei in the foot are similar to those in the hand, with this exception, that they are grouped around the middle line of the second digit, instead of that of the third. They are seven in number, and consist of two groups, dorsal and plantar.
  The Interossei dorsales (Dorsal interossei) (Fig. 446), four in number, are situated between the metatarsal bones. They are bipenniform muscles, each arising by two heads from the adjacent sides of the metatarsal bones between which it is placed; their tendons are inserted into the bases of the first phalanges, and into the aponeurosis of the tendons of the Extensor digitorum longus. In the angular interval left between the heads of each of the three lateral muscles, one of the perforating arteries passes to the dorsum of the foot; through the space between the heads of the first muscle the deep plantar branch of the dorsalis pedis artery enters the sole of the foot. The first is inserted into the medial side of the second toe; the other three are inserted into the lateral sides of the second, third, and fourth toes.


FIG. 446– The Interossei dorsales. Left foot. (See enlarged image)


FIG. 447– The Interossei plantares. Left foot. (See enlarged image)
  The Interossei plantares (Plantar interossei) (Fig. 447), three in number, lie beneath rather than between the metatarsal bones, and each is connected with but one metatarsal bone. They arise from the bases and medial sides of the bodies of the third, fourth, and fifth metatarsal bones, and are inserted into the medial sides of the bases of the first phalanges of the same toes, and into the aponeuroses of the tendons of the Extensor digitorum longus.

Nerves.—The Flexor digitorum brevis, the Flexor hallucis brevis, the Abductor hallucis, and the first Lumbricalis are supplied by the medial plantar nerve; all the other muscles in the sole of the foot by the lateral plantar. The first Interosseous dorsalis frequently receives an extra filament from the medial branch of the deep peroneal nerve on the dorsum of the foot, and the second Interosseous dorsalis a twig from the lateral branch of the same nerve.

Actions.—All the muscles of the foot act upon the toes, and may be grouped as abductors, adductors, flexors, or extensors. The abductors are the Interossei dorsales, the Abductor hallucis