riiK i;ladt)ER 



1017 



description five aspects or surfaces: anteroinferior or pul)ic, jjosterior or rectal, 

 superior or intestinal, and two lateral or obturator surfaces. The anteri<jr, poste- 

 rior, and lateral surfaces meet above at the urachus, and converge below towards 

 the base of the prostate — the posterior wall sometimes approaching the urethral 

 orifice almost in a vertical direction, as in Braune's section (plate 2), or curviim 

 first downwards, and then forwards, as in fig. 617; and in old subjects this curve 

 may be so exaggerated that a kind of pouch is formed Ijeliind the internal meatus. 

 The antero-inferior surface looks downwards and forwards towards the symphvsis. 

 Jt is uiicovcrcd l)y ])erit()neuni, but has a strong investment of recto-vesical fascia, 

 and is si'j>arate<l from the i)ul)ic l»ones and anterior attncliincnts of the ol)turatores 

 interni and levatores ani by a space known as the cavum Retzii, which contains a 



Fig. 617. — Median Sagittal Section of the ISIale Pelvis. 

 (From a preparation in the Aluseum of St. Thomas's Hospital.) 



RECTO- 

 VEilCAL POUCH 

 W TH ADIPOSE 

 FOLD 



bphincter mi 



variable quantity of loose fat continuous witli the pelvic and altdominal subj^cri- 

 toneal tissue. Each lateral surface is covered by peritoneum down to the level of 

 a line extending from the urachus backwards to a jjoint below the sunnnit of the 

 vesicula seminales, al^out an inc-h above the base of the prostate. Below this level 

 it is separated from the levatores ani by subperitoneal tissue, which usually 1 tears 

 much fat in its meshes and ensheathstlie vesical vessels and nerves; and it is cro.«;.*ed 

 l\v the vas deferens, and at the point of jieritoneal reflexion by the oblitcrat<'d hypo- 

 gastric artery. The ureter ])ierccs the junction of the ])osterior and lateral surfaces 

 aliout an inch and a half above tin- ])rostate, the vas running between it and the 

 vesical wall. External to these structures the lateral wall is in relation to the leva- 

 tor ani and the obturator internus. The posterior surface may be divided into 

 two portions, an upjter covered by the jieritoneum of the ncto-vesical or utero- 



