n as the "saphenous
opening," L h, Pl. 28. Through this opening, the saphena vein, O, Pl.
29, enters the femoral vein, I.

From the foregoing remarks it will appear that no such aperture as that
which is named "saphenous," and described as being shaped in the manner
of L h, Pl. 28, with its "upper and lower cornua," and its "falciform
process," or edge, h, exists naturally. Nor need we be surprised,
therefore, that so accurate an observer as Soemmering (de Corporis
Humani Fabrica) appears to have taken no notice of it.

Whilst the pubic part of the fascia lata passes beneath the sheath of
the femoral vessels, K I, Pl. 29, the iliac part, H h, blends by its
falciform margin with the superficial fascia, and also with N n, the
sheath of the femoral vessels. The so-called saphenous opening,
therefore, is naturally masked by the superficial fascia; and this
membrane being here perforated for the passage of the saphena vein, and
its tributary branches, as also the efferent vessels of the lymphatic
glands, is termed "cribriform."

The femoral vessels, K I, contained in their proper sheath, lie
immediately beneath the iliac part of the fascia lata, in that angle
which is expressed by Poupart's ligament, along the line C D above; by
the sartorius muscle in the line C M externally; and by a line drawn
from D to N, corresponding to the pectineus muscle internally. The
femoral vein, I, lies close to the outer margin of the saphenous
opening. The artery, K, lies close to the outer side of the vein; and
external to the artery is seen, L, the anterior crural nerve, sending
off its superficial and deep branches.

When a femoral hernia protrudes at the saphenous space L h, Pl. 28, the
dense falciform process, h, embraces its outer side, while the pubic
portion of the fascia, L, lies beneath it. The cord, K, is placed on the
inner side of the hernia; the cribriform fascia covers it; and the upper
end of the saphena vein, M, passes beneath its lower border. The upper
cornu, h, Pl. 29, of the falciform process would seem, by its situation,
to be one of the parts which constrict a crural hernia. An inguinal
hernia, which descends the cord, K, Pl. 28, provided it passes no
further than the point indicated at K, and a crural hernia turning
upwards from the saphenous interval over the cord at K, are very likely
to present some difficulty in distinctive diagnosis.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF PLATES 28 & 29.

PLATE 28.

A. The fles