SUPERFICIAL INGUINAL BRANCHES. 437 



lower end of Scarpa's space, and afterwards gets somewhat to the outer 

 side. The deep femoral vein, near its termination, crosses behind the 

 femoral artery ; and the long saphenous veiu, as it ascends on the fore part 

 of the limb, lies to the inner side ; but it not unfrequently happens that a 

 superficial vein of considerable size ascends for some space directly over the 

 artery. 



Relation to Nerves. At the groin the anterior crural nerve lies a little to 

 the outer side of the femoral artery (about a quarter of an inch), separated 

 from the vessel by some fibres of the psoas muscle and by the sheath and 

 fascia Lower down in the thigh, the long saphenous nerve accompanies the 

 artery until this vessel perforates the adductor magnus. There are likewise 

 small cutaneous nerves which cross the artery. 



BRANCHES. The femoral artery gives off the following branches : some 

 small and superficial, which are distributed to the integument and glands 

 of the groin and ramify on the lower part of the abdomen, viz., the ex- 

 ternal pudic (superior and inferior), the superficial epigastric, and the super- 

 ficial circumflex: iliac ; the great nutrient artery of the muscles of the thigh, 

 named the deep femoral ; several muscular branches ; and lastly, the anasto- 

 rnotic artery, which descends on the inner side of the knee-joiut. 



The portion of the femoral artery extending from its commencement to the origin 

 of the deep femoral, a part varying from an inch to two inches in length, is some- 

 times distinguished by surgical writers as the common femoral, and described as 

 dividing into the superficial and deep femoral arteries. 



I. SUPERFICIAL INGUINAL BRANCHES. The external pudic arteries arise 

 either separately or by a common trunk from the inner side of the femoral 

 artery. The superior, the more superficial branch, courses upwards and in- 

 wards to the pubic spine, crosses the external abdominal ring, passing in the 

 male over the spermatic cord, and is distributed to the integuments on the 

 lower part of the abdomen, and on the external organs of generation. The 

 inferior branch, more deeply seated, extends inwards, resting on the pec- 

 tin eus muscle, and covered by the fascia lata, which it pierces on reaching 

 the inner border of the thigh, and is distributed to the scrotum in the male, 

 or to the labium in the female, its branches inosculating with those of the 

 superficial perineal artery. 



The superficial epigastric artery, arising from the femoral vessel, about 

 half an iuch below Poupart's ligament, passes forwards through the fascia 

 lata, and runs upwards on the abdomen in the superficial fascia covering 

 the external oblique muscle. Its branches, ascending nearly as high as the 

 umbilicus, anastomose with superficial branches of the epigastric and internal 

 mammary arteries. 



The superficial circumflex iliac artery runs outwards in the direction of 

 Poupart's ligament towards the iliac spine, across the psoas and iliacus 

 muscles : to both of these it gives small branches, as also some others which 

 pierce the fascia lata ; it is distributed to the integument. 



All the preceding arteries give small branches to the lymphatic glands in 

 the groin. 



II. THE DEEP FEMORAL ARTERY (profunda femoris) the principal nutri- 

 tious vessel of the thigh, is an artery of considerable calibre, being nearly 

 equal in size to the continuation of the femoral after the origin of this great 

 branch. It usually arises from the outer and back part of the femoral 

 artery, between an inch and two inches below Poupart's ligament. At its 



