THE ABDOMEN 



891 



Uterine Artery. — ^This vessel is derived from the anterior di\4sion 

 of the internal iUac arterj'. It is directed downwards and inwards 

 to the side of the cervix uteri, near which it crosses the ureter. 

 On reaching the cervix it turns upwards along the lateral border 

 of the body in a very tortuous manner, Ij'ing between the two 

 layers of the broad ligament. As it ascends it gives off tortuous 

 branches to the front and back of the body, and nccir the inner 

 end of the Fallopian tube it anastomoses \rith the uterine branch 

 of the ovarian artery. Along the side of the body it also gives 

 offsets to the round ligament, ligament of the ovar^^ and Fallopian 

 tube. At the cervix the uterine artery furnishes two branches — 



Ligamentous Branch Fallopian Tube 



Jterine Branches of Ovarian Artery j I Ovary 



Uterine Artery i 



Tubal Branches 



M Corpus Fimbriatujn 



Azjrgos Artery 



Fig. 374. — The Ovarian, Uterine, and Vaginal Arteries. 

 (Posterior View) (after Hyrtl). 



cervical and vaginal. The cervical branch suppUes offsets to the 

 cervix. One of these, called the coronary artery, divides into two 

 branches, which with their fellows of the opposite side form an 

 arterial circle around the cervix. The vaginal branch di\ddes into 

 two, anterior and posterior, which descend in the middle line of 

 the anterior and posterior walls of the vagina, where they anasto- 

 mose with branches of the vaginal arteries. 



The uterine veins, which are destitute of valves, form a copious 

 plexus within the broad hgament close to the uterus, where it 

 is embedded in the parametriimi. The blood from the lower part 



