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Because the out circumferential lamellae have a special protective effect on the cortical bone, it is very important to understand the variations of the mechanical property of the out circumferential lamellae in cortical bone. For the purpose, the elasticity modulus and hardness of out circumferential lamellae in cortical bone were investigated in two orthogonal planes by nanoindentation, and the comparisons were made for both elasticity modulus and hardness between the two orthogonal planes. From the experiments, the decreasing trend was discovered for elasticity modulus from inside to outside in the transverse plane and ruleless variations tendency was presented in the longitudinal plane. The hardness presented the same variations in two orthogonal planes with elasticity modulus in respective plane. In the same layer, the elasticity modulus in the transverse plane was higher than that in the longitudinal plane, and the difference values between them turned to be smaller. In contrast, the hardness in the longitudinal plane was higher than that in the transverse plane in all the layers. From the heterogeneity and the microstructure of the material, the influence factors were discussed. A soft to hard structure model was put forward, and the coordinating protection mechanism of buffer and support was described. Investigation of variations of mechanical properties of out circumferential lamellae in cortical bone can provide some new understanding in researches of fracture of bone, interface load effect and design of bone graft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]