RUMINANTIA. 459 



wanting. In the smaller ruminants, branches from the deep femoral take the 

 place of the obturator and iliaco-femoral arteries -which are wanting ; in the ox 

 they are rudimentary. The uterine artery is very large, arising from a trunk 

 common also to the umbilical. 



The arteries of the pelvic limb offer no deviation from those in tjie typical 

 animal, of sufficient importance to merit description in an elementary work, 

 until we descend to the tarsal joint, below which the arteries, like the other 

 appendicular structures, present certain comparative features worthy of notice. 

 The great metatarsal artery, with two veins, occupies the median groove on the 

 front of the metatarsus, passes through the notch between the distal articular 

 surfaces, and gains the back of the digit as the common digital artery. Above 

 the distal ends of the ossa suffraginis it divides into external and internal 

 ungual arteries, each of which gains the inner aspect of its respective digit, and 

 enters the distal phalanx, where it behaves similarly to the plantar ungual of 

 the horse. The lateral digital arteries pass down the outer sides of the digits, 

 that of the external digit being formed by the interosseous plantar and a 

 transverse communicating branch, while that of the internal digit is given off 

 by the great metatarsal artery. 



The anterior aorta, it has been stated, is wanting ; if it is present it is 

 remarkably short. If it be absent, we must describe the brachials as arising 

 from the common aorta. The dorsal and vertebral arteries arise by a common 

 trunk, the former fulmishing a branch which takes the place of the superior 

 cervical artery, which is wanting. The vertebral artery is large, and does not 

 inosculate with the occipital, but terminates in muscular branches. The 

 humeral artery is small, as are most of its branches ; the chief artery supplying 

 the muscles of the posterior brachial region is the scapulo-humeral branch, of 

 the subscapular artery. The radio-palmar artery forms an inferior arch, as in 

 the horse, from which are given off three interosseous palmars and one dorsal; 

 of the former the internal is the largest and most constant ; the dorsal or 

 interior interosseous artery gains the front of the limb, anastomosing superiorly 

 with the anterior radial artery, while inferiorly it occupies the vertical groove 

 in the metacarpus, and inosculates with a recurrent branch of the great meta- 

 carpal artery, which passes between the articulations at the distal end of the 

 bone. The arteries of the digit resemble in the main those in the pelvic limb. 



The carotid arteries arise, as in the horse, by a primitive trunk from the 

 brachio-cephalic artery ; they break up at the head, forming the external 

 carotid, and a small occipital artery ; the internal carotid is wanting, its 

 function being performed by the encephalic artery. The occipital artery enters 

 the cranium by the condyloid foramen, passes backwards and inosculates with 

 the lateral artery of the spinal cord, at about the level of the internal foramen 

 of the atlas ; a branch given off from this union passes out through the fora- 

 men to supply the muscles of the poll. The lingual artery is given off by the 

 external carotid, and the former gives off the sublingual branch. The mastoid 

 artery of the horse is represented by a branch of the posterior auricular. In 

 the smaller ruminants the coronary arteries of the lips are formed by the bifur- 

 cation of the transverse facial, a branch of the superficial temporal artery. 



The internal maxillary artery has no pterygoid foramen to pass through in 



