PELVIS MINOR 



445 



limb is long and nearly horizontal. The posterior limb is 

 short and sometimes barely recognisable ; further, it is oblique 

 or vertical, and joins the anterior limb at an angle. Viewed 

 in median section, therefore, the lumen of the perfectly empty 

 bladder usually forms two limbs of a Y, the stem being 

 the urethra. 



In other cases the empty bladder is firm and rounded, 



Prostate 



Urethra 



FIG. 211. Median section through a Male Pelvis in which the Bladder 



\vas greatly distended. 



B. Bladder. S. Symphysis pubis. 



R. Rectum Sa. Sacrum. 



and when divided in the median plane its cavity appears as 

 a single slit, which is directly continuous with the urethra. 



Relation of the Peritoneum to the Urinary Bladder. In 

 the empty bladder only the superior surface is directly covered 

 with peritoneum. The membrane is separated from the upper 

 part of the fundus by the seminal vesicles and the deferent 

 ducts. The infero- lateral surfaces are entirely devoid of 

 peritoneum. 



