Section 37. the Student Has Probably Already Heard the Terms Vein

and artery employed. In the rabbit a vein is a vessel bringing blood towards the heart, while an artery is a vessel conducting it away. Veins are thin-walled, and therefore flabby, a conspicuous purple when full of blood, and when empty through bleeding and collapsed sometimes difficult to make out in dissection. They are formed by the union of lesser factors. The portal breaks up into lesser branches within the liver. Arteries have thick muscular and elastic walls, thick enough to prevent the blood showing through, and are therefore pale pink or white and keep their round shape.