FROM THE ARCHIVES The cerebral arterial supply. By Charles E Beevor MD, FRCP. Brain 1908; 30: 403–25

eluci-dating the distribution of the arterial blood supply to the human brain, injecting nearly one hundred specimens of 87 form the basis has injected separately the posterior communicating and anterior choroidal ‘branches of the internal carotid’ and the anterior, middle and posterior cerebral vessels. His predecessors—(Henri) Duret arteries by means of a syringe ﬁlled with insoluble coloured oil emulsions; and each offered a view on the basal and cortical structures supplied by the ﬁve vessels of interest. Whilst there is much agreement between these authors, it is mainly the view of Duret that has pre-vailed; ‘but I will point out where my results differ from those of Duret’. After preparing coloured solutions by dissolving pigments in gel-atine and straining the mixture through ﬂannel, Beevor immerses the brains in a waterbath kept at 40–50 (cid:2) C and ﬂushes the vessels through to remove blood. Each of the ﬁve main arteries of interest is then injected separately with 56.8 ccs of a solution coloured red (middle cerebral artery: carmine ½ drachm; ½ ﬂuid drachm; and glycerine ½ ﬂuid oz.); blue (posterior cerebral artery: Nicholson’s 15 grains; and alcohol ½ oz.); (anterior cerebral artery: naphthol ½ drachm; and glycerine 2 ﬂuid drachms); brown (pos-terior communicating artery: brown drachms; methylated 3 ﬂuid oz.; and glycerine 1 ﬂuid oz.); (anterior choroidal artery: acridine yellow 2 drachms; and glycerine

Dr Beevor has worked for 7 years on his studies aimed at elucidating the distribution of the arterial blood supply to the human brain, injecting nearly one hundred specimens of which 87 form the basis for his presidential address delivered to The Neurological Society of the United Kingdom on 21 February 1907. He has injected separately the posterior communicating and anterior choroidal 'branches of the internal carotid' and the anterior, middle and posterior cerebral vessels. His predecessors-(Henri) Duret (1849Duret ( -1921, (Johann) Heubner  and (Alexander) Kolisko (1857Kolisko ( -1918-injected arteries by means of a syringe filled with insoluble coloured oil emulsions; and each offered a view on the basal and cortical structures supplied by the five vessels of interest. Whilst there is much agreement between these authors, it is mainly the view of Duret that has prevailed; 'but I will point out where my results differ from those of Duret'. After preparing coloured solutions by dissolving pigments in gelatine and straining the mixture through flannel, Beevor immerses the brains in a waterbath kept at 40-50 C and flushes the vessels through to remove blood. Each of the five main arteries of interest is then injected separately with 56.8 ccs of a solution coloured red (middle cerebral artery: carmine ½ drachm; ½ fluid drachm; and glycerine ½ fluid oz.); blue (posterior cerebral artery: Nicholson's blue 15 grains; and alcohol ½ oz.); green (anterior cerebral artery: naphthol ½ drachm; and glycerine 2 fluid drachms); brown (posterior communicating artery: Bismarck brown 1-4 drachms; methylated spirit 3 fluid oz.; and glycerine 1 fluid oz.); or yellow (anterior choroidal artery: acridine yellow 2 drachms; and glycerine 1 fluid oz.). These arteries are then ligated and the brain hardened in formaldehyde (1 pint), potassic nitrate (2 oz.), potassic acetate (1 oz.), water (4 pints) and saturated aqueous solution of alum (10 fluid oz.) for 1 month before sections are cut in the horizontal, saggital and coronal planes. Dr Beevor has tried injecting the anterior, middle and posterior cerebral arteries after tying the posterior communicating and anterior choroidal vessels; four vessels at one time, with only the posterior communicating ligated; or all five together. And he has injected separately the basal and cortical distributions of each main artery.
The definitive account of these researches published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (1909; 200: 1-55) is extensively illustrated. There are 10 line drawings in the main text, and an additional 37 pages of illustrations containing 46 black and white images grouped as 18 figures; 28 coloured images grouped as 14 figures distributed on seven plates; and four black and white photographs on a single plate-together, a total of 88 illustrations. As described in the accompanying Editorial to this issue, the essence of the paper is the 14 brain sections, each of which is represented in five different ways: as black and white line drawings outlining the contours and with structures labelled; as a black and white photographic image of each section; as a black and white photographic image of the section overlaid with labelled structures; as a coloured image of the brain sections; and as a coloured image of the brain sections overlaid with labelled structures. But Dr Beevor has already published his findings in Brainthe 14 coloured images of the cerebral hemispheres being reproduced here as black and white outlines of individual brain sections, and with four surface depictions of the human brain. The original colours, subsequently reproduced in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, are now distinguished by variations of hatching on the black and white figures: green, the anterior cerebral artery-lines drawn coronally across the long axis of the hemispheres or horizontal lines in some figures; carmine, the middle cerebral artery-lines drawn diagonally; blue, the posterior cerebral artery-lines drawn parallel to the long axis of the hemispheres, or vertical lines in some figures; yellow, the anterior choroidal artery-small rings; and brown, posterior communicating artery-dotted shading.
Is it uncharitable to speculate that Dr Beevor's narrative of which arteries supply which structures in the human brain must have made for a dull lecture, as does reading the printed version in Brain? Nor is there any record of the presidential address that might correct those misgivings, since proceedings of The Neurological Society of the United Kingdom were not printed in Brain after 1906, the year before the Society was disbanded. But, if Dr Beevor's address was accompanied by lantern slides, the evening would have been spectacular in its visual impact (see Figs 1-24). Here, we summarize his findings, reproducing text from sheets of the typescript that Dr Beevor submitted for publication in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (pp. 53-5 of the published paper), and the 12 surviving coloured proofs with transparent overlays identifiyng brain structures from which he worked (see page 359). Dr Beevor has few comments on these listings. He considers that the anterior cerebral artery extends posteriorly less far along the medial and anterior external surfaces of the brain than claimed by Duret but further back on the lateral surface of the hemisphere. Here, the territory of the middle cerebral artery extends further back and lower than reported by Duret. He is in agreement with Duret on the distribution of the posterior cerebral artery and on the blood supply of the corpus callosum from cortical branches of the anterior, middle and posterior cerebral arteries; and on topographical arrangements for the centrum ovale, which reflect the different blood supplies of the overlying cerebral cortex.
'I can corroborate . . . Duret's statement that there is no connection between the cortical distribution and that of the basal arteries . . . that there is no anastomotic network in the pia mater but there is . . . between the systems of the three chief arteries at the confines of their areas . . . it is therefore difficult to understand why, when thrombosis occurs, the circulation in any branch is sufficiently interfered with to produce softening, unless very fine emboli block the capillaries of the cortex. I hold with Duret that the arteries which penetrate and supply the cortex are end-arteries and do not anastomose with their contiguous branches'.
Dr Beevor also wants to comment on the complex blood supply of the optic radiation and the fasciculus longitudinalis inferior: apart from the posterior 2.5 cm (all of which is supplied by the posterior cerebral artery), the arrangement is that, throughout their course, the superior three-quarters of these fibres are supplied by the middle cerebral artery, and the inferior quarter lie within the territory of the posterior cerebral artery. And on that specific point, he closes.

Figure Legends
Figures 3-6 'Horizontal sections of the human brain made through the most superior part of the optic thalamus, and of the lenticular nucleus respectively. Four arteries, the anterior, middle, and posterior cerebrals and the anterior choroid were injected simultaneously, and the posterior communicating artery was ligatured at each end and the area supplied by it is not injected'. This corresponds to Plate 2, Figs 3 and 4 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 1909;200: 1-55;and Figs 3 and 4 in Brain 1908;30: 403-25. Part of the legend is pasted to archival Fig. 1/2  1-55. The archival image has 'N.C' in place of 'N 1 C 1 ' (Fig. 3) and 'p.a.' is replaced by 'Th.n.e' (Fig. 4). The archival image has 'F.a' in place of 'F.ant.' and re-orientates the arrow leading to that structure; 'Sal' is corrected to 'Spl' (Fig. 3) and 'p.a.' is replaced by 'p.s' (Fig. 5).
Figures 9-12 'Horizontal sections of the same brain made though the most superior part of the corpora quadrigemina, and the nucleus ruber with the corpora geniculata, respectively.' The arteries are injected as in Plate 2 (Figs 3-6, see above). This corresponds to Plate 4, Figs 7 and 8 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 1909;200: 1-55;and Figs 7 and 8 in Brain 1908;30: 403-25. No text relating to Fig. 7, depicting section through the superior part of the corpora quadrigemina, is present in the archive. Part of the original legend for Fig. 8 is pasted to archival Figs 9/10 (numbered Fig. 7 on the recto and Fig. 8 on the verso). The text pasted to archival Fig. 11/12 (numbered Fig. 8 on the recto and Fig. 9 on the verso) belongs to Plate 5, Fig. 9 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 1909; 200: 1-55. The archival image has 'P. Ch' corrected to 'P.Ch.l', 'Cl.l' corrected to 'A.l', 'F.a' corrected to 'F.ant' (Fig. 7) and 'N.c 1 ' is corrected to 'N.C 1 ' (Fig. 8).
Figures 13-16 'Coronal sections of the human brain made through the anterior commissure (superior median part), and just posteriorly to the optic chiasma respectively.' Five arteries, the anterior, middle and posterior cerebrals, the anterior choroid and the posterior communicating arteries were simultaneously injected with different colours. This corresponds to Plate 5, Figs 9 and 10 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 1909;200: 1-55;and Figs 9 and 10 Brain 1908;30: 403-25. Part of the original legend for Fig. 9 is pasted to archival Figs 11/12 (see above). The text pasted to archival Fig. 13/14 (numbered Fig. 9 on the recto and Fig. 10 on the verso) completes, correctly, the legend for Plate 5, Fig. 10. The text pasted to archival Fig. 15/16 (numbered Fig. 10 on the recto and Fig. 11 on the verso) belongs to Plate 6, Fig. 11 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 1909; 200: 1-55. The archival image adds 'F.S' in pencil, but this remains uncorrected on the published version; 'V.l' is corrected to 'V.L' (Fig. 9); 'T.1' is incorrectly placed and re-orientated in pencil, but this lettering is not added to the printed version (Fig. 10).