One hundred branched cadavers were dissected in order to observe the morphological character of the beginning part of the vertebral artery. There are 193 cases (96.5?1.3％) out of 200 sides in which the vertebral artery takes its origin from the subclavian artery. According to the position of the origin, they may be classified into three groups: 1) in the first group it takes its origin just on the arch of the subclavian artery, out of 193 sides, 159 belong to this group, 2) in the second group, the vertebral artery originates immediately before the subclavian artery going over to form the arch; out of 193 sides, 28 belong to this group, 3) The remaining 6 belong to the third group in which the vertebral artery takes its origins from the medial wall of subclavian artery, which already lies in the cavum thorax. The verteral arteries with abnormal origins were 7 (3.5?1.3％) in number, being 1 case on the right and 6 cases on the left. Owing to the difference of the origin of the vertebral artery, the angle formed by the vertebral artery and the subclavian artery is not the same. In our specimens, the angle on the right side is usually greater than that on the left side. The most mommon foramen for the entrance of the vertebral artery is found to be the 6th foramen transversarium. The 5th, 4th and 7th came next in order. Their percentages are 93.5?1.7, 3.5?1.3, 2.0?0.9 and 1?0.7 respectively. This article has also dealt with the calibre and the surface anatomy of the origin of the vertebral artery.

There is a great deal of discrepancy among the descriptions of the formation ofsplanchnic nerves. Our present descriptions of the splanchnic nerves are based on thefindings of dissection on 70 cadavers, and the details are as follows: 1. The greater splanchnic nerves varied in origin from the fourth to the elevenththoracic sympathetic ganglion, while the lesser and the lowest both varied in origin fromthe eighth thoracic sympathetic ganglion to the first lumber sympathetic ganglion. According to the upper limit of origin, the greater splanchnic nerve may be dividedinto 3 types: Type 1. High origin: T4-5 occurred on 42 sides (30%). Type 2. Intermediate origin: T6-7 appeared on 86 sides (61.44%). Type 3. Low origin: T8-9 was present on 12 sides (8.5%). It must be pointed out that besides the sympathetic ganglia, some splanchnic nervesmay take origin from the intersegmental rami. 2. In our specimens, the frequency of occurrence of the lowest splanchnic nervewas 77.85%. 3. The number of roots which took part in the formation of the splanchnic nerveswere not equal. This unequality was due to the combination of some roots into commontrunks. According to our present research, the roots of the greater splanchnic nervevaried in number from one to seven (the most common number being 3), the lesser fromone to five (the most common number being 1) and the lowest from one to three (themost common number being 1). 4. The splanchnic nerves usually pierced the diaphragm separately. The space be-tween the medial crus and the intermedial crus of the diaphragm was the most commonplace of piercing. In this article, the splanchnic ganglia were also fully described.