284 ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY. 
brates. An artery breaks up into a great number of vessels of 
nearly the same size, which terminate, abruptly and without 
capillaries, in another arterial trunk. 
Fig. %45.—Rete mirabile of sheep, seen in profile (after Chauveau). The larger rete is in con 
pac with the encephalic arteries; the smaller, the ophthalmic. The large artery is the 
carotid. 
They are found in a variety of situations, as on the carotid 
and vertebrate arteries of animals that naturally feed from the 
ground for long periods together, as the ruminants; in the 
Fic. 246.—Section of a lymphatic rete mirabile, from the popliteal space (after Chauveau). 
a, a, afferent vessels ; 6, b, efferent vessels. The whole very strongly suggests a crude 
form of lymphatic gland. 
