304 Anatomy Applied to Medicine and Surgery. 



Femoral Hernia. When the deep fascia is re- 

 moved from Scarpa's triangle and the artery and vein are 

 exposed, there is seen to overlie them, a sheath, that may 

 be picked up with the forceps from the vessels for a dis- 

 tance of about one inch from Poupart's ligament. This 

 sheath entirely surrounds the vessels, the anterior portion 

 of it being formed by the projection downwards, from the 

 abdomen, of the transversalis fascia, while the posterior 

 portion is the downward projection of the iliac fascia. 



If we examine the lower quadrant of the abdomen 

 from within, after stripping off the peritoneum, we see, 

 that the transversalis fascia, which lines the anterior wall 

 of the abdomen, and the iliac fascia, that covers the pos- 

 terior wall, are united where they meet on the posterior 

 surface of Poupart's ligament. This union occurs along 

 the whole length of the ligament, except at the point 

 where the vessels are seen to descend, beneath the liga- 

 ment, into the thigh. Here, they seem to push the line of 

 union downwards ahead of them, so that the transversalis 

 fascia lies in front and the iliac fascia behind these vessels. 

 But the vessels would appear to have carried down with 

 them an area of this line of union, wider than their calibre 

 would warrant, since, although the sheath is closely ap- 

 plied to the outer surface of the artery, there is an inter- 

 val of about half an inch in width, left on the inner side of 

 the vein, and, since this fascial sheath is united to the 

 areolar sheath of the vessels about one inch below Pou- 

 part's ligament, it follows that the space left on the inner 

 side of the vein must be funnel-shaped. 



The wide part of the funnel is directed upwards be- 

 neath Poupart's ligament, is half an inch in width, and is 

 termed the femoral ring, while the funnel itself is about 

 half an inch in length, and is called the femoral canal. 

 The femoral ring is a potential and not an actual opening, 



