LOWER EXTREMITY. 2G9 



depression to which the above name has been given. The 

 radial artery traverses this space in the direction of a line 

 drawn from the tip of the styloid process of the radius to 

 the head of the metacarpal bone of the forefinger. Its 

 pulsations may be felt. 



The position of the superficial palmar arch nearly corre- 

 sponds to a line drawn across the palm from the bottom of 

 the cleft of the thumb, or to that crease in the palm which 

 runs obliquely and transversely, and which is nearest to 

 the carpus. The deep palmar arch is situated posteriorly 

 to the superficial arch. 



LOWER EXTREMITY. 



The pulsations of the external iliac artery may be felt 

 just above the middle of Poupart's ligament, and at this 

 point the artery may be compressed against the horizontal 

 ramus of the os pubis. 



Poupart's ligament may be felt as a rounded cord, most 

 distinct at its inner extremity, extending from the anterior 

 superior spinous process of the ilium to the spine of the 

 pubes ; the spermatic cord crosses it obliquely at its inner 

 end, which constitutes the inferior pillar of the external 

 abdominal ring. 



The general outlines of Scarpa's triangle, unless con- 

 cealed by adipose tissue, may be seen in the upper and 

 anterior part of the thigh. It is limited by Poupart's liga- 

 ment above ; by the upper border of the adductor longus 

 muscle on its inside, and by the upper border of the sarto- 

 rius muscle on the outside. Its apex is about four inches 

 below Poupart's ligament. At this point the pulsations of 

 the femoral artery may be felt, and it is here that the 

 tourniquet is usually applied in amputations of the lower 

 extremity. 



The saphenous opening may be felt, in a thin subject, just 

 below Poupart's ligament. Its outer border corresponds 

 to the inner edge of the femoral artery. An enlarged 

 gland sometimes conceals it. 



The femoral artery follows a course indicated by a line 

 drawn from the middle of Poupart's ligament to the pos- 

 terior edge of the inner condyle. At the lower fourth of 

 the thigh, upon the inside, a tendinous cord m&y be felt 

 along its inner border. This is formed by the outer border 

 of the tendon of the adductor magnus muscle, and con- 



23* 



