Fun Fact: phalanges

ep 202 phalanges

sing. noun: phalange [fuh-lan-jee]; pl. noun: phalanges [fuh-lan-jeez].

From the Greek, phálanx, meaning military formation; later used for the bones of fingers and toes

Anatomy def: 14 bones in the digits of each hand or in the toes of each foot; 56 phalange bones in total. Each thumb and great toe bears two phalanges and remaining digits each contain three phalanges.

Outlander def: Smashed but healing finger bones of Jamie’s puir left hand (right hand in Diana’s books). Claire’s own loving hands diligently labor to mended them!

Learn about phalanges in Anatomy Lesson #22, “Jamie’s Hand – Symbol of Sacrifice.”

Read about Jamie’s smashed bones in Dragonfly in Amber:

Jamie glanced dispassionately at his right hand. It really wasn’t too bad; a couple of fingers set slightly askew, a thick scar down the length of the middle finger. The only major damage had been to the fourth finger, which stuck out stiffly, its second joint so badly crushed that the healing had fused two finger bones together. The hand had been broken in Wentworth Prison, less than four months ago, by Jack Randall.

See Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser tighten the laces of Jamie’s amazing hand brace, in Starz episode 202, Not in Scotland Anymore. Designed to stabilize his healing phalanges, Clever Cunning Claire likely devised this awesome medical appliance!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Fun Fact: pectoralis major

pectoralis-major

Anatomy def: Pectoralis majors (pec majors) are thick, paired, fan-shaped muscles, covering the front of the chest wall. Together they make up the bulk of the male chest and lie deep to the breasts in the female.

Outlander def: Paired chest muscles that Claire looooves to palpate! She is, after all, a health care professional and it is her medical duty to carefully evaluate Jamie’s chest anatomy (clearly, barfing on that ship had nay ill effect on his pec major muscles)! <G>

Learn about Jamie’s chest in Anatomy Lesson #4: “Jamie’s Chest” or “The 8th Wonder of the World!”

Read about Jamie’s chest in Dragonfly in Amber book:

I fought back the memory of our wedding night. He was a virgin; his hands had trembled when he touched me. I had been afraid too—with better reason. And then in the dawn he had held me, naked back against bare chest, his thighs warm and strong behind my own, murmuring into the clouds of my hair, “Dinna be afraid. There’s the two of us now.”

See the contours of Jamie’s pectoralis major muscles in Starz episode 201, Through a Glass, Darkly.

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Fun Fact: corrugator supercilii

corrugator-supercilii

Anatomy def: Paired corrugator supercilii muscles draw the eyebrows downward and inward, producing vertical wrinkles between the brows. Also known as the worrying muscles!

Outlander def: Muscles that wrinkle Clair’s brow in worry whenever her lovable laddie leaves!

Come back to her, James Fraser, ASAP!

Learn about the corrugator supercilii muscles in Anatomy Lesson #11: “Jamie’s Face” or “Ye do it Face to Face?”

Read about Claire and Jamie worrying for each other in Outlander book:

“I’d be sorry to leave ye, Sassenach, but it might be best.” “Don’t mind for me,” I said. I hadn’t realized before that his departure would necessarily leave me alone at the Castle, and the thought made me more than slightly nervous.

See both Claire and Jamie looking worried as they contract their corrugator supercilii muscles in Starz episode 110, By the Pricking of My Thumbs! Hear Dougal tell Jamie: “I said to kiss her; dinna swallow her!” Har har, that Dougal is a canny, clever clansman!

a deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

P.S. Thanks to Ed for the idea!