NERVES OF THE INFERIOR EXTREMITY. 



to the inner side of the foot, supplying in its course the 

 integuments of the leg. The internal saphenus communi- 

 cates with the obturator, and the following branches are 

 FIG. 262. named as proceeding from it : A fe- 



moral cutaneous to the integuments of 

 the inner and outer thigh ; a tibial 

 cutaneous going off a little above the 

 inner condyle, and descending to sup- 

 ply the inner leg as low as the ankle; 

 an articular branch to the knee joint, 

 and an anterior cutaneous, given off 

 near the inner condyle, to supply the 

 parts about the patella. 



BRANCHES OF THE SACRAL PLEXUS GOING 

 TO THE THIGH, (Fig. 263.) 



The lesser sciatic or ischiatic nerve 

 comes out of the pelvis, below the 

 pyriforniis, in company with the ischi- 

 atic artery, and is divided into mus- 

 cular and cutaneous branches. The 

 muscular are called the inferior gluteal 

 nerves, and go chiefly to the lower part 

 of the gluteus maximus, some of the 

 filaments being traced to the inner 

 thigh and perineum. 



Of the cutaneous brandies, some go 

 to the perineum and are called perineal 

 cutaneous. A branch,, called posterior 

 cutaneous, is traced over the tuberosity of the ischium, and 

 at the lower portion of the gluteus maximus, comes through 

 the fascia and descends along the posterior and middle 

 part of the thigh, and the popliteal space, as low down as 

 the middle of the calf of the leg. In this course it gives 



FIG. 262 represents the anterior Crural Nerve and its branches, a Point 

 where the anterior crural emerges from beneath Poupart's ligament, b Di- 

 vision of the nerve into its branches, c Femoral artery, d Femoral vein. 

 Branches of obturator nerve. /Saphena nerve. 



