FEMUR, femur, the large bone of the thigh. The femur is the chief supporting bone of the lower limbs and is in man the main or gan of locomotion, for the larger muscles of the thigh and hip are attached to it. It is the largest and longest hone of the body. The upper extremity includes a head, neck and two bony protuberances which give attachment to the muscles rotating it. The head fits into the socket in the hip-bone, making a ball-and-socket joint. (See HIP-JOINT). It is this joint that so frequently becomes affected in tuberculosis, resulting in deformities, and also at this joint that the dislocation of the femur takes place. The main shaft of the femur is nearly circular above; below it is somewhat flattened, and run ning throughout its entire posterior surface there is a rough ridge to which muscles are at tached. The lower end of the femur is en larged, and has two surfaces to articulate at the knee with the tibia and fibula of the leg. These are known as the internal and external condyles, the external one being the broader, the internal the narrower and more projecting behind and to the sides. The upper portion of
the front surface of the lower end of the femur is grooved to receive the patella or kneecap. The femur averages about 18 inches in the male, and is about one inch shorter in the female. It is inclined inward at an angle of about nine degrees in the male. In the female, by reason of the comparatively broader pelvis, the angle of the femur inward is greater. Consult Ger rish,
FEN, a place overflowed with water, or abounding with bogs, as the bogs in Ireland, the fens in Lincolnshire, Kent, and Cambridge shire. These fens abound in duck, teal, mal lards, pike, eels, etc., and an herbage that is very nourishing to sheep and cattle. The soil of fen lands is generally black and rich to a depth of two or three feet.