ON THE ARTERIAE BRONCHIALES AND THEIR ANASTOMOSING WITH THE ARTERIA PULMONALIS IN SOME RODENTS; A MICRO-ANATOMICAL STUDY

Abstract

The bronchial arteries of the guinea-pig, rabbit, rat and mouse were injd. by a chalk-gelatin mass and their extent studied by gross observation. These vessels arise from the arch of the aorta, the subclavian artery and its branches. In the guinea-pig and the rat where the bronchial wall is thick the bronchial arteries supply even the small branches, whereas, in the rabbit and mouse they supply only the larger divisions of the bronchial tree. Within the lung the bronchial vessels are thin walled and possess only a few circular muscle fibers. In the rabbit, rat and mouse anastomosis between the bronchial and the pulmonary arteries occurs only through their capillaries, but in the guinea pig branches of the pulmonary and bronchial arteries anastomose directly without change in character of their wall.