THE MUSCLES OF THE HIP. 243 



is attached superiorly to the ilium above the origin of the posterior head of the 

 rectus femoris, with which also it is closely connected. Two processes, the external 

 and internal interm-uscutar septa, bind the fascia to the femur in the lower part of 

 the thigh : the external septum, situated between the vastus externus and crureus 

 in front and the short head of the biceps behind, is inserted into the linea aspera 

 from the lower border of the tendon of the gluteus maximus to the outer condyle 

 of the bone : the internal septum, which is much thinner and less distinct, is 

 inserted into the femur between the vastus internus and the adductor magnus, 

 becoming blended with the tendinous attachments of those muscles. 



Sheath of the femoral vessels. The femoral vessels are surrounded by an 

 investment of fascia, which in its upper part is particularly distinct and receives the 

 name of the crural sheath. This sheath, commencing at the deep crural arch, is 

 continuous with the transversalis fascia and iliac fascia of the cavity of the abdomen. 

 Its outer border descends in contact with the artery, while its inner border is 

 inclined outwards from the margin of Gimbernat's ligament, and comes in contact 

 with the vein at a distance of less than an inch lower down : the sheath is therefore 

 funnel-shaped. It is divided into three compartments, separated by thin septa : 

 the outermost contains the artery, the middle one the vein, and the innermost forms 

 a space occupied at its upper end by the crural ring, and in which there is generally 

 a lymphatic gland and some fat. Through this passage a femoral hernia descends, 

 and on this account it has been named the femoral or crural canal. (See the special 

 account of Hernia in Yol. III.) 



THE MUSCLES OP THE HIP. 



The muscles of this region are the ilio-psoas anteriorly, the three glutei and 

 the tensor vaginas femoris covering the pelvis and the hip-joint externally and 

 posteriorly, and beneath the gluteus maximus the group of external rotators, viz., 

 the pyriformis, the obturator internus with the gemelli, the obturator externus, and 

 the quadratus femoris. 



The ilio-psoas muscle, the great flexor of the hip- joint, is divisible into two 

 parts, a broad outer part, the iliacus, and an elongated inner part, the psoas magnus, 

 which are sometimes described separately as two muscles. The greater part of the 

 muscle is situated in the abdomen, only the lower conjoined portion appearing below 

 Poupart's ligament over the front of the hip- joint. 



The iliacus arises from the upper half of the iliac fossa of the hip-bone, 

 anteriorly reaching down to the inferior spine, and posteriorly receiving a few fibres 

 also from the ala of the sacrum and the ligament connecting the two bones. Its 

 fibres converge as they pass downwards and inwards, and are inserted for the most 

 part into the tendon of the psoas ; the outermost, however, pass directly to a special 

 triangular surface on the upper part of the femur, in front of and below the small 

 trochanter. 



The psoas magnus arises by five fleshy slips from the anterior surfaces and lower 

 margins of the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae ; also from the bodies of 

 the vertebraa by a series of thick processes, each of which takes origin from an 

 intervertebral disc, and from the contiguous margins of two bodies, the highest 

 being attached to the last dorsal and first lumbar vertebrae, and the lowest to the 

 fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae with the intervertebral substance between them. 

 These attachments are connected by thin tendinous arches extending over the middle 

 of each vertebra, covering the lumbar vessels and communicating branches of the 

 sympathetic nerve, and giving origin to other muscular fibres. The various bundles 

 of fibres speedily unite to form a thick elongated muscle, which runs along the brim 

 of the pelvis, and emerging from the abdomen beneath Poupart's ligament, is 



VOL. II. B 



