258 



Anatomy of the Rabbit. 



passes almost directly backward, crossing the ventral surface 

 of the right subclavian artery, and enters the anterior portion 

 of the right atrium. The left vessel crosses both the left 

 subclavian artery and the arch of the aorta, reaching the 

 right atrium from the dorsal surface of the heart, 

 (c) The vagus nerve. On the right side the nerve crosses the 

 ventral surface of the subclavian artery, passing dorsad 



to the wall of the oeso- 

 phagus. It gives off 

 the recurrent nerve 

 (n. recurrens), the lat- 

 M' ^ l§ ^^^ curving around the 



M // ^''''\yM subclavian artery and 



'" ■ '•■ passing forward along 



the side of the trachea 

 to the larynx. On the 

 left side the vagus 

 passes between the 

 arch of the aorta and 

 the base of the heart 

 to the ventrolateral 

 wall of the oesophagus. 

 The recurrent nerve 

 passes forward on the 

 dorsal side of the arch.' 

 (d) The ramus cardiacus 

 of the vagus. In front 

 of the subclavian 

 artery the nerve is at 

 first closely associated 

 with the vagus trunk, 

 lying on its medial side. On the right side it passes to the 

 dorsal surface of the subclavian, and on the left to the 

 dorsal surface of the aortic arch. It ends in the cardiac 

 plexus (plexus cardiacus), a network of sympathetic nerves 

 lying between the aortic arch and the pulmonary artery, 

 (e) The phrenic nerve (n. phrenicus) is a stout cord arising 

 chiefly from the fourth cervical spinal nerve. That of the 



Fig. 82. Plan of the venous and lymphatic 

 trunks of the anterior portion of the body. After 

 McClure and Silvester. 



a., azygos vein; ao., aorta; c.s., left superior 

 caval vein; d.th,, thoracic duct; j.e., j.i., and 

 j.tr., external, internal and transverse jugular 

 veins; s., left subclavian vein; tr.s., transverse 

 scapular vein. 



