FEMORAL ARTERY. 



245 



at a distance, varying from one to two inches, 

 below Poupart's ligament: it descends thence 

 backward into the inguinal region, posterior 

 to the femoral artery, and corresponding to 

 the muscles situate behind them in the same 

 order as the femoral itself until it reaches the 

 adductor longus : it then passes behind that 

 muscle and continues its descent between it 

 and the adductor magnus, until after it has 

 given off' its last perforating branch, when it 

 also perforates the magnus at the lower part of 

 the middle third of the thigh, and finally is 

 distributed to the short head of the biceps and 

 the vastus externus, gives to the femur its in- 

 ferior nutritious artery, and anastomoses with 

 the descending branches of the external cir- 

 cumflex artery, and with branches of the pop- 

 liteal. During its descent the profunda recedes 

 from the surface more than the femoral artery, 

 so that it lies nearer to the bottom of the in- 

 guinal space, and when placed directly behind 

 it, is separated from that vessel by an interval, 

 which is occupied by the femoral, the pro- 

 funda, and the circumflex veins. It is accom- 

 panied by a corresponding single vein of con- 

 siderable size, the profunda vein, which in the 

 upper part of the thigh is situate before the 

 artery, intervening, as has been mentioned, 

 between it and the femoral artery. It is con- 

 tained at first within the same sheath with the 

 femoral; but it is presently received into a 

 proper sheath, an offset from the back of that 

 which encloses the other vessel. It has not an 

 immediate relation to any nerve. 



Such are the general relations of the pro- 

 funda artery ; but it presents frequent varieties, 

 which derive importance from the practical 

 connections of the femoral vessels. The par- 

 ticulars, in which it is subject to diversity, are 

 the precise situation and relation of its point 

 of origin, and the relation of its course to that 

 of the femoral artery. 



The profunda arises generally, as has been 

 stated, from the posterior and outer side of the 

 femoral ; but at times its origin is directly 

 behind that vessel, at others directly from its 

 outer side, and occasionally again from its 

 inner side, as may be seen from fig. 3, tab. 

 xxxiii. of Tiedemann. The situation of its 

 origin also is variable, at times being close to 

 Poupart's ligament, at others at some distance 

 from it. According to Boyer* it corresponds 

 to " the middle of the space comprised be- 

 tween the pubis and the little trochanter; 

 sometimes higher, but rarely lower." Accord- 

 ing to Scarpa.f the division of the femoral 

 artery takes place " at the distance of one 

 inch, or one and a half, very rarely two inches, 

 below the crural arch in a well-formed adult, 

 of the ordinary stature." According to Har- 

 rison,! the profunda arises " in general about 

 two inches below Poupart's ligament, some- 

 times an inch or two lower down, and some- 

 times much nearer to this ligament." Of those 



Traite complct d'Anatomie, torn. iii. p. 150. 

 t Treatise on Aneurism, Wishart's translation, 

 p. J. 

 t Op. cit. vol. U. p, 144. 



three accounts that of Scarpa appears pre- 

 ferable : the " distance between the pubis and 

 the lesser trochanler" is variable, and affords 

 no guide for the living subject, and the author 

 has never witnessed the origin of the vessel 

 by any means so far from Poupart's ligament 

 as the statement of Harrison would imply: 

 a distance of four inches, which may be un- 

 derstood from it sometimes to occur, would 

 bring the origin down to the point at which the 

 sartorius generally commences to overlap the 

 femoral artery, and this is manifestly alto- 

 gether too low; while on the other hand 

 Scarpa* states expressly that it is never below 

 the maximum point which he has laid down, 

 viz. two inches from the ligament, and Hodg- 

 sonf asserts that " it very rarely arises so low 

 as two inches." The maximum distance im- 

 plied in the description of Harrison is that 

 which has been laid down by Bell as the me- 

 dium point of origin, on which BurnsJ re- 

 marks, " I infer that Mr. Bell has described 

 this artery from dried preparations, in which, 

 from the retraction of Poupart's ligament, the 

 origin of the profunda seems to take place 

 lower than on the recent subject." The only 

 objection which can be made to the view of 

 Scarpa, is that the vessel not unfrequently 

 arises nearer to the ligament than one inch 

 from it, its origin being at times abso- 

 lutely at it, and having been in some few 

 instances observed even above the ligament, 

 before the femoral had escaped from the ab- 

 domen, or more properly from the external 

 iliac artery : of this extraordinarily high origin 

 four instances have been recorded by Burns, 

 and Tiedemann || has met with it in a female, 

 upon both sides. TiedemannlT has also in- 

 ferred from his researches that the profunda 

 arises nearer than usual to Poupart's ligament 

 more frequently in females and in subjects of 

 small stature than in others. 



The relation of the course of the profunda 

 to that of the femoral is the next point of 

 variety. 



The main course of the former is external to 

 that of the latter; in arriving at its destination, 

 however, it does not at all times pursue an 

 uniform course, but presents diversities in this 

 respect, which affect very much its relation to 

 the femoral artery. Its general direction is 

 downward, backward, and outward ; still more 

 outward than the femoral : it is seldom how- 

 ever direct, but describes one or more inflec- 

 tions, by which its course is made at times to 

 cross once or oftener that of the other vessel ; 

 and hence the diversities in its relation to the 

 femoral which have been adverted to. When 

 the course of the vessel is direct or little tor- 

 tuous, the profunda is situate throughout, 

 external to the femoral, and this relation would 

 appear to prevail at least as frequently as any 



Op. cit. p. 328. 



t Treatise on Diseases of Artcrira and V'eini 

 p. 434. 



On Diseases of the Heart, &c. r. 319, 20 



Ibid. 



ExplicaiioTabnlarum Arteriaruin, p. 323. 



