THE FEMORAL ARTERY. 



573 



Scrotum. 



ligament. The floor of the space is formed from without inward by the Iliacus, 

 I'soas, Pectineus (in some cases a small part of the Adductor brevis), and the Ad- 

 ductor longus muscles : and it is divided into two nearly equal parts by the 

 femoral vessels, which extend from the middle of its base to its apex, the artery 

 giving off in this situation its cutaneous and profunda branches, the vein receiving 

 the deep femoral and internal saphenous. On the outer side of the femoral artery 

 is the anterior crural nerve divid- 

 ing into its branches. Besides the 

 vessels and nerves, this space con- 

 tains some fat and lymphatics. 



Hunter's Canal. This is the 

 aponeurotic space in the middle 

 third of the thigh, extending from 

 the apex of Scarpa's triangle to the 

 femoral opening in the Adductor 

 magnus muscle. It is bounded, 

 externally, by the Vastus internus ; 

 internally by the Adductors longus 

 and magnus muscles; and covered 

 in by a strong aponeurosis which 

 extends transversely from the Vas- 

 tus internus across the femoral 

 vessels to the Adductor longus 

 and magnus ; lying on which 

 aponeurosis is the Sartorius mus- 

 cle. It contains the femoral artery 

 and vein enclosed in their own 

 sheath of areolar tissue, the vein 

 being behind and on the outer 

 side of the artery, and the internal 

 or long saphenous nerve lying at 

 first on the outer side and then in 

 front of the vessels. 



For convenience of description, 

 and also in reference to its surgical 

 anatomy, the femoral artery is di- 

 vided into a short trunk, about an 

 inch and a half or two inches long, 

 which is known as the common 

 femoral artery, while the remain- 

 der of the vessel is termed the 

 superficial femoral, to distinguish 

 it from the deep femoral (pro- 

 funda femoris), a large branch 

 given off from the common fem- 

 oral at its termination, and which, 

 by its derivation from the parent 

 trunk, marks the commence- 

 ment of the superficial femoral 

 artery. 



The common femoral artery is 

 very superficial, being covered 

 by the skin and superficial 

 fascia, superficial inguinal lymphatic glands, the iliac portion of the fascia lata, 

 and the prolongation downward of the Transversalis fascia, which forms the ante- 

 rior part of the sheath of the vessels. It has in front of it filaments from the 

 crural branch of the genito-crural nerve, the superficial circumflex iliac vein, and 



Long saphenous 

 nerve. 



Superior external 

 articular. 



Inferior internal^ 

 articular. 



Superior internal 

 articular. 



_Inferior internal 

 articular. 



Anterior tibial 

 recurrent. 



FIG. 317. The femoral artery. 



