Excerpt from The American Journal of Physiology, Vol. 20 This research does not deal with the action Of muscles under physi ological conditions, but with the mechanical effects of the Shortening of individual muscles. All of the infinite number of positions which the bones entering into the hip and knee joints can take with respect to each other can be reached by appropriate muscular action. It would be, however, impossible to determine experimentally the exact method of action of each of the muscles which takes part in placing the leg in each of these innumerable positions, or to ascertain what would be the action of each of the muscles when the leg occupied each of these positions. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.