238 . CIRCULATORY SYSTEM. 



mainder of its course. The femoral artery is in front of the 

 femoral vein when it has descended three or four inches below 

 the crural arch ; behind the two is the arteria profunda. When 

 the femoral artery and vein reach the angle formed by the vas- 

 tus internus and the adductor longus, they are covered by a 

 strong interlacement of tendinous fibres from these muscles. 

 The femoral artery seds off these branches : 



1. The Superficial Artery of the Abdomen (Art. ad Cutem 

 Abdominis) is small, and arises at the lower margin of Poupart's 

 ligament; it goes upwards towards the umbilicus, lies beneath 

 the fascia superficialis abdominis, and is distributed to the inte- 

 guments of this region. One of its ramifications goes to the in- 

 guinal glands. 



2. The External Pudic Arteries (Art Pudenda Externcs) come 

 from the femoral at the same point, and are two or even three 

 in number; they are of small size. One of them inclines inwards 

 along the groin, between the skin and the fascia femoris, and is 

 distributed to the integuments of the pubes, to those of the pe- 

 nis, and to the scrotum, or to the labium externum of the female. 

 The second, and the third, when it exists, are rather lower down, 

 and are dispersed upon very much the same parts. The lym- 

 phatic glands of the groin also derive their supply of blood from 

 these external pudic arteries, 



3. The Profound Artery, (Arteria Profunda Femoris,) the 

 great muscular artery of the thigh, is but slightly inferior in 

 size to the femoral itself, and comes from the latter at the dis- 

 tance of from one to two inches below the crural arch. It lies 

 behind the femoral artery, and descends in that situation be- 

 tween the insertion of the adductor brevis and the vastus in- 

 ternus muscle, to the upper part of the insertion of the ad- 

 ductor longus. In this course its size is much diminished by 

 the origin from it of several considerable trunks, as follows: 



a. The External Circumflex, (Arteria Circumflexa Externa,) 

 though most frequently a branch of the profunda, sometimes 

 comes from the femoral above or below it a short distance. It 

 goes immediately outwards between the rectus femoris muscle 



