[Illustration:
FIG. 447.—DISSECTION OF RIGHT CARPUS, METACARPUS, AND DIGIT OF HORSE,
INNER VIEW. (After Schmaltz, Atlas d. Anat. d. Pferdes.)
]
The =common digital= or =large metacarpal artery=[164] is the direct
continuation of the posterior radial. It descends in the carpal canal
along the inner side of the flexor tendons in company with the inner
branch of the median nerve and a satellite vein. Continuing down the
limb it preserves this relation to the tendons to the distal third of
the metacarpus, where it inclines toward the middle line of the limb
behind the suspensory ligament, and divides into the internal and
external digital arteries. In the metacarpus the artery is related to
the vein in front and the artery behind, and is covered by the fascia
and skin. It furnishes collateral branches to the suspensory ligament,
the flexor tendons, and the skin.