The Quadratus plantæ (Flexor accessorius) is separated from the muscles of the first layer by the lateral plantar vessels and nerve. It arises by two heads, which are separated from each other by the long plantar ligament: the medial or larger head is muscular, and is attached to the medial concave surface of the calcaneus, below the groove which lodges the tendon of the Flexor hallucis longus; the lateral head, flat and tendinous, arises from the lateral border of the inferior surface of the calcaneus, in front of the lateral process of its tuberosity, and from the long plantar ligament. The two portions join at an acute angle, and end in a flattened band which is inserted into the lateral margin and upper and under surfaces of the tendon of the Flexor digitorum longus, forming a kind of groove, in which the tendon is lodged. It usually sends slips to those tendons of the Flexor digitorum longus which pass to the second, third, and fourth toes.
Variations.Lateral head often wanting; entire muscle absent. Variation in the number of digital tendons to which fibers can be traced. Most frequent offsets are sent to the second, third and fourth toes; in many cases to the fifth as well; occasionally to two toes only.
The Lumbricales are four small muscles, accessory to the tendons of the Flexor digitorum longus and numbered from the medial side of the foot; they arise from these tendons, as far back as their angles of division, each springing from two tendons, except the first. The muscles end in tendons, which pass forward on the medial sides of the four lesser toes, and are inserted into the expansions of the tendons of the Extensor digitorum longus on the dorsal surfaces of the first phalanges.
Variations.Absence of one or more; doubling of the third or fourth. Insertion partly or wholly into the first phalanges.
The Flexor hallucis brevisarises, by a pointed tendinous process, from the medial part of the under surface of the cuboid bone, from the contiguous portion of the third cuneiform, and from the prolongation of the tendon of the Tibialis posterior which is attached to that bone. It divides in front into two portions, which are inserted into the medial and lateral sides of the base of the first phalanx of the great toe, a sesamoid bone being present in each tendon at its insertion. The medial portion is blended with the Abductor hallucis previous to its insertion; the lateral portion with the Adductor hallucis; the tendon of the Flexor hallucis longus lies in a groove between them; the lateral portion is sometimes described as the first Interosseous plantaris.
Variations.Origin subject to considerable variation; it often receives fibers from the calcaneus or long plantar ligament. Attachment to the cuboid sometimes wanting. Slip to first phalanx of the second toe.
The Adductor hallucis (Adductor obliquus hallucis) arises by two headsoblique and transverse. The oblique head is a large, thick, fleshy mass, crossing the foot obliquely and occupying the hollow space under the first second, third, and fourth metatarsal bones. It arises from the bases of the second, third, and fourth metatarsal bones, and from the sheath of the tendon of the Peronæus longus, and is inserted, together with the lateral portion of the Flexor hallucis brevis, into the lateral side of the base of the first phalanx of the great toe. The transverse head (Transversus pedis) is a narrow, flat fasciculus which arises from the plantar metatarsophalangeal