470 



Veins of the Leg. 



_ Patella 



V. saphena 

 magna 



V. saphena 

 magna 



Rete venosum 



dorsale pedis 



cutaneum 



Malleolus 

 medialis 



V. marginalis 

 medialis 



Arcus venosus 

 dorsalis pedis 



cutaneus] 

 Yv. digitales 

 communes pedis 



v. intercapitularis 



Vv. digitales 

 pedis dorsales 



507. Superficial veins 

 of the right leg, 



viewed from in front (after 

 W. Braune). 



(Tlie arrows indicate the way the stream 

 is directed by the valves.) 



The superficial yeins of the 



leg form a continuous network in the 

 subcutaneous tissue, varying in complexity, 

 rich in valves, and permittmg the recogni- 

 tion in it of single larger vessels which act 

 as the principal canals of exit. They are 

 connected with the deep veins by numerous 

 anastomoses (for direction of current see 

 p. 469). 



In the sole of the foot (not illu- 

 strated) there is a very close network (rete 

 venosum plantar e cutaneum), which pos- 

 sesses different channels of outflow. In the 

 first place branches go to the deep veins, 

 secondly, however, and chiefly, the blood is 

 led away through superficial trunks around 

 the borders of the foot to the d( irsum of the 

 foot. These pass at the medial and lateral 

 margins of the foot into the vv. margrnales 

 medialis and lateralis of the dorsum of the 

 foot, dorsalward over the margin of the heel 

 toward the leg, and forward intij a larger 

 vessel (arcus venosus plantaris cutaneus)^ 

 which runs in the toe-ball furrow at the 

 distal margin of the fasciculi transversi 

 aponeurosis plantaris and is continued over 

 the medial and lateral margins of the foot 

 into the beginnings of the vv. marginales 

 (vide infra). This vascular arch receives 

 superficial brandies from the toes and 

 sends off' into the space between each 

 two toes single or double vv. intercapitu- 

 lares to the vv. digitales dorsales pedis. 

 On the back of the foot the veins 

 begin at the toes as the vv. digitales pedis 

 dorsales, which unite after receiving the 

 vv. mtercapitulares to form the short vv. di- 

 gitales communes pedis and flow into the 

 arcus venosus doi:mlis pedis [cutaneus] ; 

 this is an irregular chain of anastomoses 

 between the \y. digitales communes and 

 the vv. marginales and lies upon the distal 

 portion of the ossa metatarsalia. Proximal- 

 ward from it lies the irregularly shaped 

 rete venosum dorsale pedis cutaneum, 

 which receives many tributaries from the 

 depth and is contmued into the anterior 

 network of the leg. In the network, near 

 the lateral and median margins of the foot, 

 can be made out on each side a larger 

 vessel, the v. marginalis lateralis (see 

 Fig. 509) and the v. marginalis medialis, 

 which chiefly receive tributaries from the 

 rete venosmn plantare cutaneum. 



