SUPERFICIAL FEMORAL REGION. 195 



oblong and irregularly shaped ; it is usually empty, and 

 may be best demonstrated by insufflation with the blow- 

 pipe from the duct above. The thoracic duct may some- 

 times, though rarely, be traced below the receptaculum, 

 which, in that case, becomes merely a dilated portion of 

 the duct. 



1 The greater and lesser vena azygos (p. 123) may some- 

 times be better seen in this connection than at any other 

 period of the dissection. Both these veins usually pass 

 through the aortic opening of the diaphragm, but they not 

 unfrequently perforate its fibres at the side of the pillars. 



SUPERFICIAL FEMORAL REGION. 



The knees of both legs should be bent so as to bring the soles of the 

 feet in apposition, with the heels approached to the nates ; an inci- 

 sion, six inches in length, is to be made through the skin from the 

 iiitre of Ponpart's ligament down the thigh, and the integument 

 jflected to either side ; this will expose the superficial fascia. 



The superficial fascia of the thigh, like that of the abdo- 

 ien, with which it is continuous, consists of two layers ; 



contains several small arterial branches, all arising from 

 te femoral artery just below Poupart's ligament. 



The superficial epigastric artery passes upward, between the two 

 layers of the fascia, toward the umbilicus, and has already been seen, 

 in part, during the dissection of inguinal hernia. 



The superficial external circumflex artery passes outward toward the 

 anterior superior spinous process and crest of the ilium. 



The superficial external pudic artery passes inward to be distributed 

 to the integument of the penis and scrotum, or to the labia niajora iu 

 the female* 



Several cutaneous nerves will be found lying in the super- 

 ficial fascia ; they are small, and derived from the anterior 

 crural and genito-crural branches of the lumbar plexus.. 



Enlarged lymphatic glands are usually found both in 

 and beneath the superficial fascia; they are connected with 

 the lymphatics of the lower extremity, and their efferent 

 ducts enter the abdomen through the sapheuous opening. 



The superficial fascia may be removed by dissecting it away from 

 the fascia lata beneath ; a portion of it should, however, be left for the 

 present, around the point where the saphena vein penetrates the thigh. 



The deep external pudic artery, arising from the femoral, 

 lies between the superficial and the deep fascia; after a 

 short course toward the inside of the thigh it penetrates 



