1HNOLOG} 



and is continued on to the upper ends of the seminal vesicles and the bladder; 

 on either side of the rectum it forms a fossa, the pararectal fossa, which varies in 

 size with the distension of the rectum. In front of the rectum the peritoneum forms 

 the rectovesical excavation, w r hich is limited laterally by peritoneal folds extending 

 from the sides of the bladder to the rectum and sacrum. These folds are known 

 from their position as the rectovesical or sacrogenital folds. The peritoneum of 

 the anterior pelvic wall covers the superior surface of the bladder, and on either 

 side of this viscus forms a depression, termed the paravesical fossa, which is limited 

 laterally by the fold of peritoneum covering the ductus deferens. The size of this 

 fossa is dependent on the state of distension of the bladder; when the bladder is 

 empty, a variable fold of peritoneum, the plica vesicalis transversa, divides the fossa 

 into two portions. On the peritoneum between the paravesical and pararectal 

 fossae the only elevations are those produced by the ureters and the hypogastric 

 vessels. (6) In the female, pararectal and paravesical fossae similar to those in the 

 male are present : the lateral limit of the paravesical fossa is the peritoneum invest- 

 ing the round ligament of the uterus. The rectovesical excavation is, however, 

 divided by the uterus and vagina into a small anterior vesicouterine and a large, 

 deep, posterior rectouterine excavation. The sacrogenital folds form the margins 

 of the latter, and are continued on to the back of the uterus to form a transverse 

 fold, the torus uterinus. The broad ligaments extend from the sides of the uterus 

 to the lateral walls of the pelvis; "they contain in their free margins the uterine 

 tubes, and in their posterior layers the ovaries. Below, the broad ligaments are 

 continuous with the peritoneum on the lateral walls of the pelvis. On. the lateral 

 pelvic wall behind the attachment of the broad ligament, in the angle between 

 the elevations produced by the diverging hypogastric and external iliac vessels is 

 a slight fossa, the ovarian fossa, in which the ovary normally lies. 





Rcctus 



Small intestine 



Mesentery 



Inferior vena cava 



Descending colon , , 



Quadratuslumborum / / 



Psoas major \ 



aacrotpuuutt 



Fid. 1038. Horizontal disposition of the peritoneum in the lower part of the abdomen. 



(2) In the Lower Abdomen (Fig. 1038). Starting from the linea alba, below the 

 level of the transverse colon, and tracing the continuity of the peritoneum in a 

 horizontal direction to the right, the membrane covers the inner surface of the 

 abdominal wall almost as far as the lateral border of the Quadratus lumborum; 



