Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 934
| The upper subscapular (short subscapular), the smaller enters the upper part of the Subscapularis, and is frequently represented by two branches. |
| The lower subscapular supplies the lower part of the Subscapularis, and ends in the Teres major; the latter muscle is sometimes supplied by a separate branch. |
| The Thoracodorsal Nerve (n. thoracodorsalis; middle or long subscapular nerve), a branch of the posterior cord of the plexus, derives its fibers from the fifth, sixth, and seventh cervical nerves; it follows the course of the subscapular artery, along the posterior wall of the axilla to the Latissimus dorsi, in which it may be traced as far as the lower border of the muscle. |
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FIG. 810– Suprascapular and axillary nerves of right side, seen from behind. (Testut.) (See enlarged image) |
| The Axillary Nerve (n. axillaris; circumflex nerve) (Fig. 818) arises from the posterior cord of the brachial plexus, and its fibers are derived from the fifth and sixth cervical nerves. It lies at first behind the axillary artery, and in front of the Subscapularis, and passes downward to the lower border of that muscle. It then winds backward, in company with the posterior humeral circumflex artery, through a quadrilateral space bounded above by the Subscapularis, below by the Teres major, medially by the long head of the Triceps brachii, and laterally by the surgical neck of the humerus, and divides into an anterior and a posterior branch. |
| The anterior branch (upper branch) winds around the surgical neck of the humerus, beneath the Deltoideus, with the posterior humeral circumflex vessels, as far as the anterior border of that muscle, supplying it, and giving off a few small cutaneous branches, which pierce the muscle and ramify in the skin covering its lower part. |
| The posterior branch (lower branch) supplies the Teres minor and the posterior part of the Deltoideus; upon the branch to the Teres minor an oval enlargement (pseudoganglion) usually exists. The posterior branch then pierces the deep fascia and is continued as the lateral brachial cutaneous nerve, which sweeps around the posterior border of the Deltoideus and supplies the skin over the lower two-thirds of the posterior part of this muscle, as well as that covering the long head of the Triceps brachii (Figs 811, 813). |