256 



THE MUSCLES AND FASCLE OF THE LOWER LIMB. 



Relations. The adductor brevis is concealed at its origin by the adductor longus and at 

 its insertion in part by thepectineus ; it is crossed by the superficial division of the obturator 

 nerve, and by the deep femoral artery ; it rests on the adductor magnus and deep division of 

 the obturator nerve, and by its deep surface is in contact above with the obturator externus, 

 the internal circumflex artery passing between the two. 



Fig. 254. MUSCLES OF THE INNER SIDE OF THE THIGH 



AND INTERIOR OF THE PELVIS. (Alleu Thomson.) I 



1, iliacus ; 2, psoas magnus ; 3, obturator internus, 

 with its fibres converging towards the small sacro-sciatic 

 foramen ; 4, pyriformis, with three heads of origin, and 

 its fibres converging towards the great sacro-sciatic 

 foramen ; 5, lumbar aponeurosis covering the erector 

 spinse muscle ; 6, gluteus maximus ; 7, sartorius ; 7', its 

 tendon inserted below the tuberosity of the tibia ; 8, 

 adductor longus ; 9, gracilif, 9', its tendon passing 

 under that of the sartorius ; 10, part of the adductor 

 magnus; 11, semimembranosus ; 12, semitendinosus, 

 12', its insertion, and between 9' and 12', the tendon 

 of the semimembranosus passing to its insertion on the 

 inner tuberosity of the tibia. 



The adductor magnus muscle (fig. 251, 

 5 ; 253, 8) arises slightly from the lower 

 part of the body of the pubis external to 

 the origin of the adductor brevis, from the 

 inner margin of the conjoined ischio-pubic 

 rami, and from the lower portion of 

 the tuberosity of the ischium. The mus- 

 cular fibres diverge from their origin, 

 those from the body of the pubis passing 

 horizontally outwards, the succeeding ones 

 becoming longer and directed with increasing 

 degrees of obliquity downwards, and those 

 from the ischial tuberosity descending almost 

 vertically. The insertion takes place, 1, by 

 short tendinous fibres into the back of the 

 femur along the inner side of the gluteal 

 ridge, the internal lip of the linea aspera, 

 and the internal supracondylar line for about 

 an inch, and, 2, by a distinct rounded tendon, 

 continued from the thick inner border of the 

 muscle, into the adductor tubercle on the in- 

 ternal condyle of the femur : an aponeurotic 

 layer unites the outer side of this tendon to the 

 lower part of the internal supracondylar line. 

 Along the femoral attachment the in- 

 sertion is interrupted by three or four tendi- 

 nous arches through which pass the perforating arteries ; and below the level of the 

 inferior bifurcation of the linea aspera, between the two portions of the insertion of 

 the muscle, an interval is left for the passage of the femoral vessels backwards into 

 the popliteal space. Extending upwards from the opening for the femoral vessels is 

 an aponeurotic membrane which consists of transverse fibres passing from the surface 

 of the vastus internus to the adductor magnus and adductor longus muscles. It 

 becomes thinner as it ascends, and encloses a three-sided passage called Hunter's 

 canal, which contains the femoral artery and vein, together with the internal sa- 

 phenous nerve. 



