The development of the anterior falcate and lacrimal arteries in the human.

Certain arteries of the head were studied in injected human fetuses from 143 to 290 mm C.-R., as well as in the orang-utan and gorilla, and in microscopical sections from 29 to 162 mm C.-R., as well as in an adult. It was found that, during human ontogenesis, an anterior falcate artery supplies the dura mater of the medial part of the frontal bone. It appears at 40 mm and reaches its full development by 115 mm. Normally it becomes reduced and is transformed into the anterior meningeal artery postnatally. It communicates with the meningeal branches of the lacrimal artery. Under pathological conditions that affect the dura mater, the falcate artery may appear postnatally in angiograms.