822 THE VASCULAR SYSTEM. 
transverse adductor. At the bases of the interdigital clefts the three inner digital arteries 
divide into collateral branches (aa. digitales plantares) which run along the plantar aspect 
i Anastomotic 
\ A arteyu: 
Superior external IN Th artery 
articular artery TSL ff 
__ Superior internal 
articular artery 
Inferior external WAN 
articular artery ————*Y 7 7'14 
_ Inferior internal 
« Anterior tibial articular artery 
recurrent artery 
Anterior tibial 
artery 
—— Tibialis anticus 
~- Gastrocnemius 
— Soleus 
Anterior tibial 
NOL Cmca 
Peroneus brevis 
Extensor longus 
digitorum 
Extensor longus 
hallucis” — 
Anterior peroneal 
Cutaneous branch 
_ Extensor brevis 
digitorum 
artery — 
External N 
malleolar artery ——_____T#_ 
is Dorsalis pedis 
i y) ~ artery 
Tarsal artery —————— a 
Digital artery __ 
Digital artery — 
Fig. 578.—THE ANTERIOR TIBIAL ARTERY AND 1TS BRANCHES. 
of adjacent toes, and supply 
skin, jomts, and the flexor 
tendons and sheaths. Opposite 
the last phalanx of each toe 
the digital arteries anasto- 
mose. 
The posterior perforating 
arteries are three in number ; 
they pass dorsalwards through 
the three outer interosseous 
spaces, between the heads 
of the dorsal interosseous 
muscles, and terminate by 
uniting with the dorsal in- 
terosseous branches of the 
metatarsal artery. Anterior 
perforating branches which 
communicate with the dorsal 
interosseous arteries are given 
off from two or three of the 
digital arteries just before 
they divide. 
The articular branches are 
numerous and irregular; they 
supply the joints and_ liga- 
ments of the tarsus on its 
plantar aspect. 
THE ANTERIOR TIBIAL 
ARTERY. 
The anterior tibial 
artery (a. tibialis anterior), 
the smaller of the two ter- 
minal divisions of the poph- 
teal, commences opposite 
the lower border of the pop- 
liteus muscle, and termi- 
nates in front of the ankle, 
where it is continued into 
the dorsal artery of the foot. 
Course and Relations. 
—From its origin at the 
back of the leg the artery 
passes forwards to the front, 
between the two uppermost 
slips of the tibialis posticus 
and above the upper border 
of the interosseous mem- 
brane. It then descends 
resting, In the upper two- 
thirds of its course, upon 
the anterior surface of the 
interosseous membrane and, subsequently, on the shaft of the tibia and the anterior 
ligament of the ankle-joint. In the upper third of the anterior compartment of 
the leg it lies between the extensor longus digitorum externally and the tibialis 
anticus internally ; in the middle third it is between the extensor longus hallucis 
and the tibialis anticus; in the lower third the extensor proprius hallucis crosses nm 
front of the artery and reaches its inner side, and the last part of the vessel les 
—s 
