492 



THE MUSCULAK SYSTEM. 



fossse for the passage of the anal canal, and characterised by looseness and dis- 

 tensibility ; and an anterior or ventral part, the urethral triangle for the genito- 

 urinary passages, and characterised by firm fixation to the pubic bones ; so also 

 from the abdominal aspect it is found that, while in the posterior part of the pelvis 

 a rectal channel exists, in which the rectum is free to collapse and distend, in the 

 ventral part of the basin the genito-urinary passages are firmly fixed by means of 



PSOAS MAJOR MUSCLE 





Suspensory ligament of \ j 



the vagina and urethra > 



Obturator foramen 



Arcus tendineus 



Recto- vaginal layer 



Lateral pubo-prostatic 

 ligament 



Urethro- vaginal layer 



Lig. puboprostati- 

 cum medium 



Cavum Retzii -, 



I 



Clitoris 



Bulb of the /' 

 vestibule 



Pubo-urethral fascia (pubo-vesical .' ; 



ligament) 



Urethral .layer of pelvic fascia j 

 Urethra 



Vagina 

 Bulb of the vagina 



BULBOCAVERNOSUS 



Sciatic 

 spine 

 Rectal channel 



: . \ EXTERNAL SPHINCTER ANI 

 ', '- t \ LEVATOR ANI 



; ' \ INTERNAL SPHINCTER ANI 



! : '. Anal canal 

 I Junction of rectum and anal canal 



INTERNAL SPHINCTER ANI 

 EXTERNAL SPHINCTER ANI 



FIG. 436. RELATIONS OF THE PELVIC FASCIA TO THE RECTUM, URETHRA, AND VAGINA (Median Section). 



the pelvic, fascia, which gives rise to a special suspensory ligament for the prostate 

 gland and the prostatic urethra in the male, and for the urethra and vagina in the 

 female. 



A crescentic fold of pelvic fascia (suspensory ligament) arises in the neighbour- 

 hood of the sciatic spine from the general fascia covering the pelvic wall. It has 

 a posterior free edge, through which the ductus deferens, vesical vessels, and nerve* 

 pass. Sweeping across the median plane, this border is continuous with the folc 

 of the opposite side, the two together constituting the anterior limit of the recta 



