Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 517
| and the termination of the ductus arteriosus. The fifth arch disappears on both sides. The sixth right arch disappears; the sixth left arch gives off the pulmonary arteries and forms the ductus arteriosus; this duct remains pervious during the whole of fetal life, but is obliterated a few days after birth. His showed that in the early embryo the right and left arches each gives a branch to the lungs, but that later both pulmonary arteries take origin from the left arch. |
The Dorsal Aortæ.—In front of the third aortic arches the dorsal aortæ persist and form the continuations of the internal carotid arteries; these arteries pass to the brain and each divides into an anterior and a posterior branch, the former giving off the ophthalmic and the anterior and middle cerebral arteries, while the latter turns back and joins the cerebral part of the vertebral artery. Behind the third arch the right dorsal aorta disappears as far as the point where the two dorsal aortæ fuse to form the descending aorta. The part of the left dorsal aorta between the third and fourth arches disappears, while the remainder persists to form the descending part of the arch of the aorta. A constriction, the aortic isthmus, is sometimes seen in the aorta between the origin of the left subclavian and the attachment of the ductus arteriosus. |
| Sometimes the right subclavian artery arises from the aortic arch distal to the origin of the left subclavian and passes upward and to the right behind the trachea and esophagus. This condition may be explained by the persistence of the right dorsal aorta and the obliteration of the fourth right arch. |
| In birds the fourth right arch forms the arch of the aorta; in reptiles the fourth arch on both sides persists and gives rise to the double aortic arch in these animals. |
| The heart originally lies on the ventral aspect of the pharynx, immediately behind the stomodeum. With the elongation of the neck and the development of the lungs it recedes within the thorax, and, as a consequence, the anterior ventral aortæ are drawn out and the original position of the fourth and fifth arches is greatly modified. Thus, on the right side the fourth recedes to the root of the neck, while on the left side it is withdrawn within the thorax. The recurrent nerves originally pass to the larynx under the sixth pair of arches, and are therefore pulled backward with the descent of these structures, so that in the adult the left nerve hooks around the ligamentum arteriosum; owing to the disappearance of the fifth and the sixth right arches the right nerve hooks around that immediately above them, i.e., the commencement of the subclavian artery. Segmental arteries arise from the primitive dorsal aortæ and course between successive segments. The seventh segmental artery is of special interest, since it forms the lower end of the vertebral artery and, when the forelimb bud appears, sends a branch to it (the subclavian artery). From the seventh segmental arteries the entire left subclavian and the greater part of the right subclavian are formed. The second pair of segmental arteries accompany the hypoglossal nerves to the brain and are named the hypoglossal arteries. Each sends forward a branch which forms the cerebral part of the vertebral artery and anastomoses with the posterior branch of the internal carotid. The two vertebrals unite on the ventral surface of the hind-brain to form the basilar artery. Later the hypoglossal artery atrophies and the vertebral is connected with the first segmental artery. The cervical part of the vertebral is developed from a longitudinal anastomosis between the first seven segmental arteries, so that the seventh of these ultimately becomes the source of the artery. As a result of the growth of the upper limb the subclavian artery increases greatly in size and the vertebral then appears to spring from it. |
| Recent observations show that several segmental arteries contribute branches to the upper limb-bud and form in it a free capillary anastomosis. Of these branches, only one, viz., that derived from the seventh segmental artery, persists to form the subclavian artery. The subclavian artery is prolonged into the limb under the names of the axillary and brachial arteries, and these together constitute the |