NERVUS FACIALIS OF ALBINO MOUSE 103 



one-half of the palate. Anterior to the nasopalatine canal the 

 mucous membrane of the medial part of the palate is supplied by 

 the terminal branches of the nasopalatine nerve, that of the 

 lateral part by a branch of the maxillary nerve. 



Branches from these nerves are abundant under the transverse 

 ridges of the palate and particularly so around the nasopalatine 

 canal. In the tunica propria the nerve fibers form rather wide 

 meshed plexuses from which individual fibers can be followed 

 into the epithelium. No encapsulated nerve endings were 

 found. In this area of the palate there are no taste-buds or 

 glands. From the anterior palatine nerve many fine fibers can 

 be followed along the walls of the blood-vessels, presumably to 

 end in their muscle fibers, although this termination could not be 

 positively identified. 



The graph (fig. 8) shows the distribution of the middle and 

 posterior palatine nerves and the posteriorly directed branch of 

 the anterior palatine nerve to the posterior part of the hard pal- 

 ate and the soft palate. The transverse line X shows the place 

 of union of the hard and soft palate. The graph includes one- 

 half of the palate, the right margin representing the median line 

 and the left margin the lateral edge. In this connection it 

 must be remembered that the anterior part of the palate shown 

 in the upper part of the graph is wider than the posterior part, 

 thus accounting for the apparent preponderance of nerves in the 

 upper part of the graph. The small circles show the approximate 

 locations of the taste-buds, and the broken line represents the 

 limits of the palatal glands. 



In the series represented in the graph, there were twenty-five 

 taste-buds, twelve in the posterior part of the hard palate, and 

 thirteen in the soft palate. In other series the number is ap- 

 proximately the same and the arrangement is similar. Thej^ 

 are most numerous along the posterior part of the hard palate 

 and gradually decrease in number posteriorly. 



The nerves of this region can be followed from their emergence 

 from the bony foramina to their termination. Those supplying 

 the epithelium can be traced to the basement membrane and 

 some of the fibers were seen to pass among the epithelial cells. 



