The regular textbooks of gross anatomy offer little precise infomiation concerning the points at which the visceral branches of the abdominal aorta arise, either in relation to the vertebrae or the bifurcation, or in relation to one another.2The present article aims to furnish such information. It is based upon a study of 100 consecutive specimens from which were collected data upon the position of the abdominal arotic branches, and of the aortic bifurcation in relation to the upper, Contribution no. 237 from the anatomical laboratory of Northwestern University Medical School.'The points of aortic origin are commonly described as follows: That of the coeliac as being 'just below the aortic hiatus,' that of the inferior mesenteric '37 em. above the bifurcation;' the superior mesenteric is then described as arising 'a little below the coeliac,' the renals 'just below the superior mesenteric,' the internal spermatics (and ovarians) " a little below the renal arteries ''--all of which is little more exact than would be a serial enumeration of these vessels in the order of their origin from above downward. Only one text bases its descriptions consistently 011 the relation of the vessels t o dependable landmarks, the segments of the lumbar part of the vertebral column, but at the same time fails to discuss the wide range of variation which exists in these relations (see footnote 4). 7

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