Anatomy and Embalming / A Treatise on the Science and Art of Embalming, the Latest and Most Successful Methods of Treatment and the General Anatomy Relating to this Subject

by Albert John Nunnamaker; Charles Otto Dhonau

Articular synovial membranes are found in every free movable joint.

Bursal synovial membranes are sacs interposed between the surfaces which move upon each other, producing friction, as in the gliding of a tendon or of the integument over projecting bony surfaces.

Vaginal synovial membranes serve to facilitate the gliding of a tendon in the bony canal through which it passes.

Fig. 8—Section of artery. (Grunstein)

Arteries.

—The arteries are cylindrical vessels which serve to convey the blood from both ventricles of the heart to every part of the body. They are called arteries from the Greek words which mean “to contain air,” and they were supposed, by our ancients, to have this function until the time of Galen, when he refuted this opinion and showed that these vessels, though for the most part empty after death, actually contained blood. The distribution of the arteries may be compared to a tree, the common trunk of which corresponds to the aorta, and the smallest twigs corresponding to the minute capillaries. When one artery communicates with another it is said to anastomose, and this communication is very free between the larger as between the smaller branches. Anastomosis between trunks of equal size is found where great activity of the circulation is requisite, as at the base of the brain, where the two vertebrals unite to form the basilar artery.

In the limbs and arms the anastomoses are more numerous and of larger size around the joints. The branches of the artery above, unite with branches, from the vessels below. These anastomoses are called collateral circulations. The principal ones of interest to the embalmer are those of the deep brachial uniting with the recurrent radial and ulnar arteries, forming the collateral circulation in the arm; the deep femoral uniting with the recurrent posterior and anterior tibials, forming the collateral circulation in the leg; the superficial and deep mammary arteries, branches of the subclavian artery uniting with the superficial and deep epigastric arteries, branches of the external iliac, forming the collateral circulation over the abdomen and chest, and may be considered the longest collateral circulation in the body.

A terminal artery is one which forms no anastomoses; such vessels are found in the heart, brain, spleen, kidneys, lungs and mesentery.