AUTHOR’S ABSTRACT OF THIS PAPER ISSUED 
BY THE BIBLIOGRAPHIC SERVICE, DECEMBER 23 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARTERIES OF THE 
HUMAN LOWER EXTREMITY 
H. D. SENIOR 
Department of Anatomy, New York University 
ELEVEN FIGURES 
I. INTRODUCTION 
a. General considerations 
It is well known that considerable differences exist between 
the various types of arterial distribution which are normally 
encountered in the pelvic limb of the different representatives 
of the mammalian series. In all mammals in which the de- 
velopmental history of the arteries of the limb has been investi- 
gated, however, it has been found that the adult arterial system 
of the part results from the elaboration of two embryonic vessels. 
Both of the embryonic arteries in question take origin from 
the dorsal (secondary) root of the a. umbilicalis. One of them, 
the primitive artery of the limb, traverses the axis of the thigh 
and leg and divides into a number of branches for the supply 
of the foot. This vessel is present before the limb forms a 
distinct prominence upon the surface of the body and is known 
as the axial or ischiadic artery. 
The other is an artery of later development which traverses 
the pelvis and the ventral region of the thigh. It joins the 
axial artery a short distance above the knee and gives rise to the 
a. iliaca externa, the a. femoralis, and the a. epigastrica inferior 
and to the branches which arise from these vessels. All other 
arteries of the limb arise from the axial artery itself or from the 
branches to which it gives origin. 
Whether the relations of the embryonic axial artery to the 
other constituents of the limb are identical in the embryos of 
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