THE VISCERA. 223 



the walls of the abdominal cavity. It is, according to the walls, 

 divided into : 



1. Anterior wall, formed by the abdominal muscles. It covers the whole 

 posterior surface of the anterior and lateral abdominal muscles, separated 

 from it by fascia recta and transversal. Of it four folds pass off from the 

 umbilicus. 



a. Ligam. suspensorium hepatis, the so-called suspensory ligament of the 

 liver, upwards, which surrounds the lig. teres (the obliterated ven. umbilicalts) 

 at the sides and behind, and goes to the liver. 



b. Lig. suspensorium vesicce s. Plica urachi passes downwards in the middle 

 line from the umbilicus, on the obliterated Urachus to the superior border of 

 the urinary bladder. 



c. Plica pubo-umbilicales, two lateral folds from the umbilicus to the ligg. 

 lateralia vesicas. 



Between these folds two recesses arise behind and above the femoral arch 

 (Poupart s Ligament) on either side of the middle line, the external of which 

 is again divided by the obliquely ascending but little projecting vasa epigas- 

 trica. On each side we therefore observe: 



a. Fovea inguinalis interim between symphysis pubis and ven. iliaca (in the 

 crural ring) behind lig. Gimbernati. 



b. Fovea inguinalis media between the sides of the lig. later. Vesica and v. 

 epigastr. turned towards one another, above and behind the crural ring (im- 

 portant in crural as well as in direct inguinal hernia). 



c. Fovea inguinalis c.rterna, on the external side of vasa epigastrica (im- 

 portant in oblique inguinal hernia'). 



NOTE. b. and c. are together distinguished as fossa inguinalis externa. 



2. The inferior or pelvic wall descends from the above described folds, and 

 the posterior surface of the ossa pubis backwards, into the small pelvis over 

 the superior and posterior surfaces of the urinary bladder, covers, in the 

 female, the uterus and the anterior surface of the rectum ; in the male, imme- 

 diately, the last. Here it forms between bladder and uterus, which, together 

 with its tubes, ligg. rotunda and both the ovaries, it receives in a broad fold, a 

 fossa (excavatio vesico-uterina), the two broad ligaments (ligg. lata}, and alee, 

 respertilionis ; between Uterus and Rectum the excavatio recto-uterina, between 

 the two plica Douglasii, which last, in the male, are situated between the 

 bladder and rectum. Into the fossae the convolutions of the small intestines 

 descend. Hence the peritonaeum ascends to the dorsal wall, as: 



3. The posterior wall, situated before the mm. quadrati lumborum, the Kid- 

 Heys, Ureters, Aorta and ven. cava, nn. symphatici, vv. azygos, hemiazygos and 

 duct, tkoracicus, and forms, hence, the inversions or reflections for the viscera 

 (periton. viscerate), the access to which is concealed by uniting tissue. 



4. The superior wall covers the inferior surface of the diaphragm, passing 

 over behind upon the Liver, Stomach, and Spleen, before upon the anterior 

 abdominal walls. 



454. B. Peritonaeum viscerale, 



the intestinal layer, consists of two large and several smaller 

 inversions from the posterior walls. The superior larger invests 

 the Liver, Stomach, Spleen, Colon transversum, covers the an- 

 terior surface of the Duodenum and Pancreas, and contains the 



