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Home  »  Anatomy of the Human Body  »  pages 419

Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.

pages 419

  The parietal portion lines the cavity in varying quantities in different situations. It is especially abundant on the posterior wall of the abdomen, and particularly around the kidneys, where it contains much fat. On the anterior wall of the abdomen, except in the public region, and on the lateral wall above the iliac crest, it is scanty, and here the transversalis fascia is more closely connected with the peritoneum. There is a considerable amount of extraperitoneal connective tissue in the pelvis.
  The visceral portion follows the course of the branches of the abdominal aorta between the layers of the mesenterics and other folds of peritoneum which connect the various viscera to the abdominal wall. The two portions are directly continuous with each other.


FIG. 401– The abdominal inguinal ring. (See enlarged image)

The Deep Crural Arch.—Curving over the external iliac vessels, at the spot where they become femoral, on the abdominal side of the inguinal ligaments and loosely connected with it, is a thickened band of fibers called the deep crural arch. It is apparently a thickening of the transversalis fascia joined laterally to the center of the lower margin of the inguinal ligament, and arching across the front of the femoral sheath to be inserted by a broad attachment into the pubic tubercle and pectineal line, behind the inguinal aponeurotic falx. In some subjects this structure is not very prominently marked, and not infrequently it is altogether wanting.

2. The Posterior Muscles of the Abdomen
Psoas major.
Iliacus.
Psoas minor.
Quadratus lumborum.
  The Psoas major, the Psoas minor, and the Iliacus, with the fasciæ covering them, will be described with the muscles of the lower extremity (see page 466).

The Fascia Covering the Quadratus Lumborum.—This is a thin layer attached, medially, to the bases of the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebræ; below,