384 



NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



atlantal foramen. The second passes out between the arches 

 of the atlas and axis, not through a special intervertebral fora- 

 men, so that its ganglion lies among the muscles of the back 

 of the neck. The others emerge through the intervertebral 

 foramina, the eighth one from between the last cervical and 

 first thoracic vertebrae. 



Dorsal Rami (Rami posteriores). — The dorsal ramus of the 

 first nerve (N. suboccipitalis) supplies the short dorsal muscles 



Fig. 158. —Superficial Nerves of the Neck. 

 M. clavotrapezius has been partly removed. I, N. accessorius; 2-4, ventral 

 rami of second to fourth cervical nerves; 5, N. auriciilaris magnus; 6, N. cutaneus 

 colli, a, M. clavotrapezius (cut); l>, M. splenius; c, M. levator scapulae ventralis; 

 if, M. cleidomastoideus; f, M. sternomastoideus; /, parotid gland. 



which move the head and connect the atlas and skull. In 

 the second nerve the dorsal ramus is much larger, forming 

 N. occipitalis major. It sends small branches to the muscles 

 about its origin, then turns craniad on the surface of the obliquus 

 superior muscle, passes through the biventer cervicis and 

 splenius, joins a small branch from the third nerve, and reaches 

 the dorsal surface of the back of the head. It passes craniad, 

 lying beneath the levator auris longus, emerges from between 



