Anatomy and Embalming / A Treatise on the Science and Art of Embalming, the Latest and Most Successful Methods of Treatment and the General Anatomy Relating to this Subject

by Albert John Nunnamaker; Charles Otto Dhonau

—Aponeuroses are flattened or ribbon-like tendons, of a pearly-white color, irridescent, glistening, and similar in structure to the tendons.

Ligaments.

—Ligaments consist of bands of various forms, serving to connect the articular extremities of bones. They are strong bands of smooth, silverwhite fibrous tissue.

A ligament is pliable and flexible, so as to allow the most perfect freedom of movement, but at the same time it is tough and strong, so as not to yield readily under the severe applied force, and for this reason they serve as good connecting links for the binding of bones together.

Poupart's Ligament.—Poupart's ligament extends from the crest of the ilium to the top of the pubic bone. This ligament is of utmost importance to the embalmer, as it serves as a guide to locate the femoral artery. By placing the thumb on the crest of the ilium and the second finger on the top of the public bone, then letting the first finger drop midway between the two, which would be the center of Poupart's ligament, we have a point which marks the exit of the artery from the body and the beginning of the femoral artery.

Poupart's ligament also forms the base of Scarpa's triangle. The structure of this triangle will be taken up later.

Fat.

—Fat is a deposit of an oil in the cells of the tissues, just beneath the skin, giving roundness and plumpness to the body, and acting as an excellent non-conductor for the retention of heat.

So tiny are these cells, that there are over sixty-five million in a cubic inch of fat. As they are kept moist, the liquid does not ooze out; but, on drying, it comes to the surface, and thus a piece of fat feels oily when exposed to the air. The quantity of fat varies with the state of nutrition. In corpulent persons, the masses of fat beneath the skin, in the mesentery, on the surface of the heart and the great vessels, between the muscles, and in the neighborhood of the nerves, are considerably increased. Conversely, in the emaciated we sometimes find beneath the skin cells which contain only one oil drop. Many masses of fat which have an important relation to muscular actions—such as the fat of the orbit or the cheek, do not disappear in the most emaciated persons. Even in starvation, the fatty substance of the brain and spinal cord are retained.

Fat collects as pads in the hollows of the bones, around the joints and between the muscles, causing them to glide more easily upon each other. As marrow, it nourishes the skeleton, and also distributes the shock of any jar the limb may sustain.