INTERNAL OBLIQUE CREMASTER. 



825 



Poupart's ligament, or the crural arch, extends from the anterior superior 

 spine of the ilium to the spine of the pubes. It is also attached to the pectineal 

 line to the extent of about an inch, forming Gimbernat's ligament. Its general 

 direction is curved towards the thigh, where it is continuous with the fascia 

 lata. Its outer half is rounded, oblique in its direction, and continuous with 

 the iliac fascia. Its inner half gradually widens at its attachment to the pubes, 

 is more horizontal in direction, and lies beneath the spermatic cord. 



OimbernaCs ligament is that portion of the apo neurosis of the External Ob- 

 lique which is inserted into the pectineal line ; it is thin, membranous in struc- 

 ture, triangular in shape, the base directed outwards, and passes upwards and 

 backwards beneath the spermatic cord, from the spine of the os pubis to the 

 pectineal line, to the extent of about half an inch. 



The triangular ligament is a band of tendinous fibres, of a triangular shape, 

 which is continued from Poupart's ligament at its attachment to the pectineal 

 line upwards and inwards, behind the inner pillar of the external ring to the 

 linea alba. 



The Internal Oblique Muscle has been described (p. 361). The part which is 

 now exposed is partly muscular and partly tendinous in structure. Those fibres 

 which arise from the outer part of Poupart's ligament are thin, pale in color, 

 curve downwards, and terminate in an aponeurosis, which passes in front of the 

 "Rectus and Pyramidalis muscles, to be inserted into the crest of the os pubis 



Fig. 447. Inguinal Hernia, showing the Internal Oblique, C remaster, and Spermatic Canal. 



and pectineal line, to the extent of half an inch, in common with that of the 

 Transversalis muscle, forming by their junction the conjoined tendon. This 

 tendon is placed immediately behind Gimbernat's ligament and the external 

 abdominal ring, and serves to strengthen what would otherwise be a very weak 

 point in the- abdominal wall. When a direct inguinal hernia passes through the 

 external ring, the conjoined tendon usually forms one of its coverings. 



The Cremasler is a slender muscular fasciculus, which arises from the middle 



