PERFOEATING BEANCHES OF THE PROFUNDA. m 



and descending branches, which ramify in the hamstring- muscles, and commu- 

 nicate with the other perforating branches : an offset from it, named the nntrie7it 

 artery of the femur, enters the 



medullary foramen of that Ficr. 294 



bone. 



Fig. 294. — Posterior View of 

 THE Arteries of the Pelvis, 

 Thigh, axd Popliteal Space 

 (from Tiedemann). 



«, the iliac crest ; i, the great 

 sacro-sciatic ligament attached to 

 the tuberosity of tlie ischium : c, 

 great trochanter ; d, the integu- 

 ment close to the anus ; e, gi-eat 

 sciatic nerve ; /, the line from this 

 letter crosses the tendons of the 

 inner hamstring muscles ; ij, head 

 of the fibula ; 1, gluteal artery ; 

 2, pudic ; 3, sciatic artei'y, giving 

 its branches to the short external 

 rotator muscles, to the sciatic 

 nerve, and to the upper part of 

 the long flexor muscles ; 4, first 

 perforating artery ; 4', its branches 

 to the flexor muscles ; 5, branches 

 of the second perforating ; 6, 

 branches of the third perforating ; 

 7, popliteal artery, near this the 

 origin of the superior muscular 

 branches ; 8, placed on the ten- 

 don of the adductor magnus, near 

 the origin of the superior articular 

 branches ; 9, the anastomosis of 

 the external superior articular 

 with other branches ; 10, the 

 sural branches : 11, the recurrent 

 of the anterior tibial artery. 



{c) The third perforating 

 arteiy pierces the adductor 

 magnus muscle, below the in- 

 sertion of the adductor longus, 

 and is distributed in a manner 

 similar to the second perfor- 

 ating artery. 



(^/) The fourth pe^foratinrj 

 artery, the termination of the 

 deep femoral artery, passing 

 backwards close to the linea 

 aspera, is distributed to the 

 short head of the biceps and 

 to the other hamstring mus- 

 cles, and communicates with 

 branches of the popliteal artery, 

 and with the lower perforating 

 arteries. 



Muscular branches. — 



In its course along the 



thigh, the femoral arteiy gives off several branches to the contiguous 



