514 



ARTERIES. 



the back part of the bulb. In such a case the vessel could hardly fail to be 

 wounded in the performance of the lateral operation for lithotomy. If, on the 



contrary, it should arise from 

 Fig. 297. The Arteries of the Gluteal and Posterior Fe- 

 moral Regions. 



pudic it lies 



ope 



an 



more 



is out of danger in the 



ration. 



The artery of the corpus ca- 



u / j, 



vernosum, one of the terminal 

 branches of the internal pudic, 

 arises from that vessel while 

 it is situated between the crus 

 penis and the ramus of the 

 pubes; piercing the crus penis 

 obliquely, it runs forwards in 

 the corpus cavernosum by the 

 side of the septum pectini- 

 forme, to which its branches 

 are distributed. 



The dorsal artery of the penis 

 ascends between the crus and 

 pubic symphysis, and piercing 

 the suspensory ligament, runs 

 forward on the dorsum of the 

 penis to the glans, where it 

 divides into two branches, 

 which supply the glans and 

 prepuce. On the dorsum of 

 the penis, it lies immediately 

 beneath the integument, pa- 

 rallel with the dorsal vein, 

 and the corresponding ar- 

 tery of the opposite side. It 

 supplies the integument and 

 fibrous sheath of the corpus 

 cavernosum. 



The internal pudic artery in 

 the female is smaller than in the 

 male. Its origin and course 

 are similar, and there is con- 

 siderable analogy in the dis- 

 tribution of its branches. The 

 superficial artery supplies the 

 labia pudenda; the artery of 

 the bulb supplies the erectile 

 tissue of the bulb of the va- 

 gina, whilst the two terminal 

 branches supply the clitoris; 



the artery of the corpus cavernosum, the cavernous body of the clitoris ; and 

 the arteria dorsalis clitoridis, the dorsum of that organ. 



The Sciatic Artery (Fig. 297), the larger of the two terminal branches of the 

 anterior trunk of the internal iliac, is distributed to the muscles on the back 

 of the pelvis. It passes down to the lower part of the great sacro-sciatic fora- 

 men, behind the internal pudic, resting on the sacral plexus of nerves and 

 Pyriformis muscle, and escapes from the pelvis between the Pyriformis and 

 Coccygeus. It then descends in the interval between the trochanter major and 

 tuberosity of the ischium, accompanied by the sciatic nerves, and covered by 



