ABSOEBENT SYSTEM OF BIRDS. 



181 



ternal branches, 4, accompany the bloodvessels, and form a net- 

 work around them ; the posterior and external branches, 5, receive 

 the lymphatics of the sole 



of the foot, then ascend 

 along the metatarse, and 

 form at its proximal arti- 

 culation a close network, 6, 

 from which the vessels climb 

 the tibia, forming a plexus, 

 7, around it as far as the 

 middle of the leg; from this 

 proceed two branches, of 

 which the smaller j)asses 

 along the anterior part of 

 the depression between the 

 tibia and fibula as far as the 

 knee-joint, where it joins 

 the other branch which ac- 

 companies the bloodvessels. 

 The trunk formed by the 

 union of the two preceding 

 branches accompanies the 

 femoral vessels, forming 

 plexuses in its course, 8, 

 which receive tributary ab- 

 sorbents from the surround- 

 ing muscles, and a large 

 branch, 9, corresponding to 

 the deep-seated femoral ves- 

 sels. 



The iliac trunk, 10, ac- 

 companies the great femo- 

 ral vein into the abdomen, 

 which it enters anterior to 

 the origin of the pubis ; it 

 there receives branches from 

 the lateral parts of the pel- 

 vis, 11, and afterwards sepa- 

 rates into two divisions. 



The posterior di^^sion re- 

 ceives some lymphatics from 

 the anterior lobes of the kidneys, and those of the ovary or testi- 

 ' Erom Lauth's Monograph, Annales dcs Sciences Nat. t. iii, pis. 23 and 25. 



Absorbents of a fioose. 



