The wall shear stress pattern was measured in a rigid plastic cast of a canine artery during steady flow by means of an electrochemical technique. The topographic distribution of shear stress is very nonuniform, with regions of high and low shear in close proximity. The steady shear stresses are highest at the leading edge of flow dividers and at the entrance regions to branch vessels. The shapes of the shear stress curves in the celiac branch are primarily a function of the ratio of branch flow to total aortic flow. However, the shapes of the shear stress curves in the adjacent anterior mesenteric branch remain the same for different anterior mesenteric branch flow ratios, although the shear increases with the branch flow ratio. An unstable pattern of flow separation and reattachment is found at the anterior mesenteric flow divider lip and remains localized to that region. A correlation is suggested between sites of high shear stress, extremes in the range of stress, and unstable stress patterns and sites at which atherosclerosis has been shown to develop.