632 TEE ARTEBIES. 



and generally very short trunk, which springs at an acute angle from uhe inner 

 side of the femoral artery. 



The prepubic artery traverses the crural ring, opposite which it arises ; it lies 

 on the anterior face of Poupart's hgament, behind the neck of the inguinal canal, 

 and after a very short course separates into two branches — the posterior abdominal 

 and the external pudic arteries. 



Posterior Abdominal Artery {Epigastric of Man) (Fig. 368, 5). — This 

 leaves the external pudic artery at an acute angle, enters the femoral ring by 

 crossing the direction of the spermatic cord, places itself between the small 

 oblique and transverse muscles of the abdomen, passes forward along the external 

 border of the rectus abdominis, and finally enters the substance of that muscle, 

 where its terminal divisions anastomose with those of the anterior abdominal 

 artery. The numerous collateral branches this artery throws off on its track 

 principally go to the rectus muscle, or the other parts composing the inferior 

 abdominal wall, the skin included ; the superior branches communicate with the 

 circumflex iliac. 



The position this artery occupies at its origin, with reference to the abdominal 

 ring, is worthy of remark ; indicating, as it does, that in strangulated inguinal 

 hernia, division of the ring should be made outwards, to avoid wounding the 

 vessel. 



External Pudic Artery (Fig. 368, 6). — This artery descends at first on 

 the posterior wall of the inguinal canal, behind, and a little to the inside of, the 

 spermatic cord ; then, having passed the external ring of the canal, it bifurcates 

 into the subcutaneous abdomincd artery, and the anterior dorsal artery of the penis. 



The subcidaneons abdomincd artery is directed forward on the superficial 

 face of the abdominal fascia, bordering in its course the insertion of the sus- 

 pensory Hgament of the sheath. Arriving at the anterior extremity of that 

 ligament, it terminates in several subcutaneous divisions, one of which is 

 inflected beyond the umbilicus to anastomose in a circle with a similar branch 

 from the opposite artery. It gives off twigs to the scrotum, sheath, superficial 

 inguinal glands, skin, etc. (Fig. 368, 7). 



The anterior dorsal artery of the penis gains the superior border of that 

 organ, after supplying one or two scrotal branches, and separates into two 

 portions ; one, posterior, meets the dorsal cavernous artery of the penis and 

 anastomoses with it ; the other, anterior, longer, more voluminous, and very 

 flexuous during retraction of the penis, follows the dorsal border of the organ 

 to its anterior extremity, where it enters the erectile tissue of this part. From 

 the two branches of this anterior dorsal artery, there are given off, as in the 

 posterior one, ramuscules which penetrate the corpus cavernosum and the walls 

 of the urethra ; they give, besides, some preputial twigs (Fig. 368, 8). 



In the female, the external pudic artery offers a disposition which, if not 

 similar, is yet analogous to that just indicated. As in the male, this vessel 

 traverses the inguinal canal, and after leaving it divides into two branches : 

 one, the anterior, or suhcidaneous abdomincd artery ; the other, the posterior, or 

 mammary artery. The last — the most voluminous — represents -the dorsal artery 

 of the penis. It distributes several branches to the mammary tissue, and is 

 prolonged between the thighs by a perineal branch, which terminates in the 

 inferior commissure of the vulva, after giving off glandular and cutaneous 

 branches. 



