ARTERIES OF HUMAN LOWER EXTREMITY 59 
The literature dealing with the arteries of the mammalian 
pelvic limb shows a tendency towards the perpetuation of a 
conception regarding the relation of the adult human a. peronaea 
to the embryonic a. interossea which Zuckerkandl has already 
shown to be erroneous. Stieda stated, in 18938, that the study 
of the variations of the arteries of the human leg had led him to 
the conclusion that the a. peronaea represents a persisting portion 
of the embryonic axial artery. A similar opinion regarding the 
relationship between these two arteries was expressed by 
Zuckerkandl in 1894. In 1895 the recognition of the course of 
the a. interossea led Zuckerkandl to a modification of the views 
he had previously expressed upon the subject. He drew atten- 
tion to the fact that it would be impossible for the part of the 
a. peronaea which is separated from the interosseous membrane 
by the m. tibialis posterior to be a derivative of the part of the 
a. interossea which lies between the membrane and the muscle. 
In 1902 DeVriese revived the conception of the identity of the 
aa. interossea and peronaea, notwithstanding the obvious justice 
of Zuckerkandl’s contention. 
A careful examination of the embryos which form the basis of 
the present study and of a large number of others belonging to 
the collection of the Carnegie Institution has been made in the 
search for a r. saphenus of the a. femoralis comparable in extent 
to that of the a. saphena which occurs very rarely in adult man 
and invariably in most of the other mammals. The result has 
been entirely negative. 
That the a. saphena occurs occasionally in the human embryo 
is indicated by the fact that its presence has been noted at least 
five times in the adult. In the embryos examined in connection 
with the present study, however, the r. saphenus has not been 
found to extend in a single instance beyond the middle of the 
leg. 
I take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude to Professor 
Thyng for the trouble he has taken in the revision of this 
manuscript. 
