552 DISSECTION OF THE THIGH. 



CHAPTER IX. 



DISSECTION OF THE LOWER LIMB. 



SECTION I. 



THE FRONT OF THE THIGH. 



ALL the parts described in Section I. are to be examined before the 

 time for turning the body arrives. 



Position. During the dissection of the front of the thigh the body lies 

 on the back, with the buttocks resting on the edge of the table, and with 

 a block of suitable size beneath the loins. The lower limb should be sup- 

 ported in a half-bent position by a stool beneath the foot, and should be 

 rotated outwards to make evident a hollow at the upper part of the thigh. 



Surface marking. Before any of the integument is removed from the 

 limb, the student is to observe the chief eminences and hollows on the 

 surface of the thigh. 



The limit between the thigh and abdomen is marked, in front, by the 

 firm band of Poupart's ligament reaching from the crest of the hip bone 

 to the pubes. On the outer side, the separation is indicated by the con- 

 vexity of the iliac crest of the hip bone, which subsides behind in the 

 sacrum and coccyx. On the inner side is the projection of the pubes, 

 from which a line of bone (pubic arch) may be traced backwards along 

 the inner and upper parts of the limb to the ischial tuberosity. 



On the anterior aspect of the thigh, and close to Poupart's ligament, is 

 a slight hollow, corresponding with the triangular space of Scarpa, in 

 which the larger vessels of the limb are contained ; and extending thence 

 obliquely towards the inner side of the limb, is a slight depression mark- 

 ing the situation of the femoral artery beneath. The position of the 

 arterial trunk may be ascertained by a line from the centre of the interval 

 between the symphysis pubis and the crest of the hip bone, to the inner 

 condyle of the femur. 



At the outer side of the thigh, about four inches below and behind the 

 anterior part of the iliac crest, the well-marked projection of the great 

 trochanter of the femur will be recognized. In a thin body the head of 

 the femur may be felt by rotating the limb inwards and outwards, whilst 

 the thumb of one hand is placed in the hollow below Poupart's ligament, 

 or the lingers behind the great trochanter. 



At the knee the outline of the several bones entering into the formation 

 of the joint may be traced with ease. In front of the joint, when it is 

 half-bent, the rounded prominent patella may be perceived ; this bone is 

 firmly fixed whilst the limb is kept in the same position, but is moved 

 with great freedom when the joint is extended, so as to relax the muscles 



