524 THE RABBIT CHAP. 



the most important of which are a brachial (br) to the 

 fore-limb, a vertebral (or) which passes through the 

 vertebrarterial canal of the cervical vertebrae (p. 498) and 

 supplies the spinal cord and brain, and an anterior 

 epigastric or internal mammary (a. epg) running along the 

 inner side of the ventral wall of the thorax. The aorta 

 gives off, in the thorax, a series of small paired inter- 

 costal arteries (i. cs) to the body-walls, and then passes 

 into the abdomen, between the pillars of the diaphragm. 

 A short distance behind the diaphragm the cceliac 

 artery (Figs. 137 and 140, cce) arises, and supplies the 

 liver, stomach, and spleen ; and about half or three- 

 quarters of an inch further back is the anterior mesenteric 

 artery (a. m. a], the branches of which pass to the small 

 intestine, pancreas, caecum, and colon. Close behind 

 the anterior mesenteric is the right and rather further 

 back the left renal artery (Fig. 140, r), and still more 

 posteriorly, a posterior mesenteric (p. m) to the rectum, 

 and a pair oi^spermatic or ovarian arteries (spm) to the 

 spermaries or ovaries, as the case may be. A small 

 caudal artery (m. sc), corresponding to the caudal con- 

 tinuation of the aorta, arises from the dorsal surface of 

 the posterior part of the latter just in front of a pair of 

 large common iliac arteries (c. il. a), which appear like a 

 bifurcation of the aorta. These are continued outwards 

 and backwards towards the hind-limbs, each giving 

 off an ilio-lumbar artery (i. I) to the dorsal body- wall 

 and then dividing into an internal iliac (i. il. a] passing 

 along the dorsal side of the pelvic cavity, and an 

 external iliac (e. il. a) which gives off an artery to the 

 bladder (s. vs), and in the female one to the part of the 

 oviduct known as the uterus (ut) ; and then, passing 

 beneath Poupart's ligament (p. 506) to the hind-limb, 

 becomes the femoral artery (fm. a], from the proximal 

 end of which a posterior epigastric (p. epg} runs forwards 



