1152 



SPLANCHNOLOGY 



Lea\ 7 ing first the sides and then the front of the rectum, it is reflected on to the semi- 

 nal vesicles and fundus of the urinary bladder and, after covering the upper surface 

 of that viscus, is carried along the medial and lateral umbilical ligaments (Fig. 

 1036) on to the back of the abdominal wall to the level from which a start was made. 





M. Hindis 



External 

 Mac 



artery 



Internal 



iliac 



artery 



\Femoraf 

 fovea 



Supravenical 

 fovea 



Superior 

 cesical 

 artery 

 r Medial 



inguinal 



fovea 



FIG. 1036. Posterior view of the anterior abdominal wall in its lower half. The peritoneum is in plaoe. and the various 



cords are shining through. (After Joessel.) 



Between the rectum and the bladder it forms, in the male, a pouch, the recto- 

 vesical excavation, the bottom of which is slightly below the level of the upper 

 ends of the vesiculse seminales i. e., about 7.5 cm. from the orifice of the anus. 

 When the bladder is distended, the peritoneum is carried up with the expanded 

 viscus so that a considerable part of the anterior surface of the latter lies directly 

 against the abdominal wall without the intervention of peritoneal membrane (pre- 

 vesical space of Retzius) . In the female the peritoneum is reflected from the rectum 

 over the posterior vaginal fornix to the cervix and body of the uterus, forming 

 the rectouterine excavation (pouch of Douglas). It is continued over the intestinal 

 surface and fundus of the uterus on to its vesical surface, which it covers as far as 

 the junction of the body and cervix uteri, and then to the bladder, forming here 

 a second, but shallower, pouch, the vesicouterine excavation. It is also reflected 

 from the sides of the uterus to the lateral walls of the pelvis as two expanded 

 folds, the broad ligaments of the uterus, in the free margin of each of which is the 

 uterine tube. 



Vertical Disposition of the Omental Bursa (lesser peritoneal sac) (Fig. 1035). A 

 start may be made in this case on the posterior abdominal wall at the anterior 

 border of the pancreas. From this region the peritoneum may be followed upward 



