330 SPECIAL ANATOMY. 



colon. Behind the ligam. Pouparti,\i is situated on the outer 

 side of the vein (in the same sheath with it), on the inner side of 

 nerv. cruralis. Branches : 



1. Epigastrica (inferior s. interna). Origin : two to three lines (sometimes 

 half an inch to two inches above lig. Pouparti from the inner side of lliaca 

 externa, or in- common with art. obturatoria}. Course : 1. at first transversely 

 inwards to beneath the spermatic cord (or lig. rotund, of the female) ; 2. then 

 bends upwards, concave above ; 3. lastly, directly upwards to the umbilicus. 

 Position : 1. before Ven. cruralis, crossed by vas deferens which ascends ver- 

 tically behind it, then above it anteriorly and in the inguinal canal ; half an 

 inch to an inch and a half (at the convexity of the crossing points is the ab- 

 normal origin of obturatoria, which then winds round the upper and inner 

 boundary of the femoral ring) ; 2. obliquely behind the posterior wall of in- 

 guinal canal, upwards and inwards, between fasc. transversa and peritoneum, 

 it forms the boundary between fovea inguinal, externa and interna; 3. at the 

 outer border and the posterior surface (inside the sheath) of m. rectusabdominis. 

 It is lost in the umbilical region, as it anastomoses with A. mammar. intern. 

 by means of a capillary rete inside the m. rectus. Branches : 



a. Art. spermatica externa, enters the inguinal canal, passes through it 

 along the anterior surface of the spermatic cord (lig. uteri rotundum), 

 and passes to the scrotum (labia majora) outwards ; anastomoses with 

 spermat. interna. 



b. Art. pubica, passes along the crista oss. pubis internally, where it anasto- 

 moses, behind the Symphysis, with the artery of the other side. 



c. Nam. obturatorius, descends on the superior and internal border of the 

 femoral ring behind the ram. horizontal, oss. pubis to art . obturator. ; is 

 sometimes so large that the art. obturatoria appears to arise from art. epi- 

 gastrica. 



2. Circumjlexa ilii s. epigastrica externa. Origin : opposite to the last, or 

 below it, from the outer side of the art . iliaca ext.; sometimes double. Course : 

 obliquely outwards and upwards to the spina ilei anterior superior, hence 

 arched along the crista oss. ilei, between m. obliq. intern, and transvers. 

 abdom. to the art. ileo-lumbalis backwards. Position : at first behind ligam. 

 Poupartii between the two laminae of fasc. iliaca, then only covered by the 

 peritoneum. Branches : ascending for the abdominal muscles and skin ; de- 

 scending for the fossa iliaca. In the region of the Spina the 



Sam. dbdominalis ascends, parallel with the art. epigastrica, between m. 

 transversus and obliquus internus, and anastomoses with artt. lumbales 

 and intercost. inferr. 



582. B. Femoralis, the femoral artery, 



is that part of art. cruralis which reaches from the femoral ring to 

 the inferior third of the thigh, passing downwards, inwards and a 

 little backwards, in the direction of a line which commences in 



