Sequential slit-lamp examinations and fluorescein angiograms were performed on adult rabbits to define the morphological and functional maturation of new intracorneal vessels induced by chemical cautery. The vasoproliferation induced by this injury began as vascular sprouts from the preexisting pericorneal vessels and continued until there were well formed vascular loops carrying blood to and from the cautery site. Many vessels, particularly venules, then regressed. As defined by the fluorescein angiograms and microscopic examination of tissue sections, the final loops were formed by muscularized vessels (arterioles) bringing blood to the cautery site, and unmuscularized vessels (venules) carrying blood back to the vessels at the corneoscleral limbus. The angiograms recorded during the evolution of these vessels suggest that intracorneal arterioles form when blood flow or pressure from a preexisting pericorneal arteriole induces muscularization in a previously undifferentiated sprout arising from a capillary or venule.