CEPHALOPODA CIRCULATION. 



205 



destined to supply the testicle or ovary ; the other rises from 

 the anterior surface, and supplies in part the gills, the sac, 

 and more especially the intestines and chylopoietic viscera ; 

 but it is the aorta, issuing from the heart on the posterior 

 side, which carries the great mass of blood through the sys- 

 tem, to furnish new materials for its growth and secretions. 



Fig. 38. 



From the extreme branchlets of the arteries the blood flows 

 on into the capillary extremities of the veins, and com- 

 mences its return to the centre; for the small branches 

 of the latter vessels converge and unite by frequent inos- 

 culations into larger ones, until they are collected into a 

 few trunks. The veins of the feet and superior parts 

 form ultimately two of these (c), which almost immedi- 

 ately coalesce into one greater (d) ; and this vessel, after de- 

 scending through part of the viscera into the abdomen, and 



