Page:Structure and functions of the body; a hand-book of anatomy and physiology for nurses and others desiring a practical knowledge of the subject (IA structurefunctio00fiskrich).pdf/34

 or veins, the venæ comites. Usually the arteries occupy protected situations and are straight in their course. Where a vessel has to accommodate itself to the movements of a part, however, it may be curved, as in the case of the facial artery which is curled on itself to allow for movements of the jaw. They anastomose or communicate freely with one another, thus promoting equality of distribution and pressure and making good circulation possible even after the obliteration of a large vessel.

The veins have three coats like the arteries, but they are not so thick and the muscular coat is not so highly developed, so that the walls collapse when cut and have no elasticity. There are constrictions on the surface of many of the veins due to the presence of valves. These valves are formed of semi-lunar folds of the lining membrane and are arranged in pairs. They serve to prevent the blood, whose circulation in the veins is sluggish, from flowing back.

There are two sets of veins, the superficial and the deep, which communicate with each other. In fact, all the veins, large and small, anastomose very freely, especially in the skull and neck, where obstruction would result in serious trouble, throughout the spinal cord, and in the abdomen and pelvis. The deep veins accompany the arteries in their sheath, while the superficial ones have thicker walls and run between the layers of the superficial fascia under the skin, terminating in the deep veins. In the skull the venous channels take the form of sinuses, formed by a separating of the layers of the dura mater, with an endothelial lining that is continuous with that of the veins.

The capillaries are intermediate between the arteries and the veins, the final division of the arteries and the first source of the veins. They are tiny vessels with but a single coat, continuous with the innermost coat of both arteries and veins and consisting practically of one layer of cells with a small amount of connective tissue between. They spread in a great network through