462 



ARTERIES OF THE LOWER LIMB. 



(a) Tlie supcr'w)' branclies. three or four in number, are distributed to the lower 

 ends of the hamstring muscles, as also to the vasti muscles, and anastomose with 

 the perforating and articular arteries. 



Fig. 295. Fig. 295. — View op the Popliteal Arterv and its 



Branches in the Right Leg (from Tiedemann). ^ 



a, biceps muscle ; h, semi-membranosus ; c, semi- 

 tendinosus ; 1, the popliteal arteiy ; 2, 3, the superficial 

 sural branches ; 4, the outer, 5, the inner superior 

 aiticular branch ; 6, the superior muscular ; 7, the 

 inferior muscular or deep sural branches. 



(/>) The injerior m iiscular branches, or sural arteries, 

 usually two in number, and of considerable size, 

 arise from the back of the popliteal artery, opposite 

 the knee-joint, and enter, one the outer and the other 

 the inner head of the gastrocnemius muscle, which 

 they supply, as well as the fleshy part of the plantaris 

 muscle. 



Over the surface of the gastrocnemius will be found 

 at each side, and in the middle of the limb, slender 

 branches, which descend a considerable distance along 

 the calf of the leg, and end in the integument. 

 These small vessels (superficial sural) arise separately 

 from the popliteal artery, or from some of its 

 branches. 



2. The articular arteries. Two of these 

 pass off nearly at right angles from the pop- 

 liteal artery, one to each side, above the flexure 

 of the joint, Avhilst two have a similar arrange- 

 ment below it, and a fifth passes from behind into the centre of the 

 joint. 



{(j) The tipper internal articular artery winds roimd the femur just above the 

 inner condyle ; and, passing imder the tendon of the great adductor and the 

 vastus internus, divides into two branches ; one of these, comparatively super- 

 ficial, enters the substance of the vastus, and inosculates with the anastomotic 

 branch of the femoral, and with the lower internal articular artery. The other 

 branch runs close to the femur, ramifies upon it. and also on the knee-joint, and 

 communicates with the ujjper external articular artery. 



(It) The upjwr external articular artery passes outwards a little above the outer 

 condyle of the femui-, under cover of the biceps muscle, and, after perforating 

 the intermuscular septum, divides into a superficial and a deep branch. The 

 latter, lying close upon the femur, spreads branches upon it and the articulation, 

 and communicates with the preceding vessel, with the anastomotic of the femoral, 

 and with the lower external articular artery; the superficial branch descends 

 through the vastus to the patella, anastomosing with other branches and assisting 

 in the supply of the joint. 



{c) The lower internal articular arteiy passes downwards below the internal 

 tuberosity of the tiljia, lying between the bone and the internal lateral ligament : 

 its branches ramify on the front and inner part of the joint, as far as the pateUa 

 and its ligament. 



{(I) The lon-er external articular artery takes its course outwards, under cover 

 of the outer head of the gastrocnemius in the first instance, and afterwards 

 under the external lateral ligament of the knee and the tendon of the biceps 

 muscle, passing above the head of the fibula. Having reached the fore part 

 of the joint, it divides near the patella into branches, some of which communi- 

 cate with the lower articular artery of the opposite side, and with the recurrent 



