541 
From the Gasserian ganglion pro- 
ceed out, first, the above mentioned 
commissure to the ganglion above, 
secondly, the Ramus maxillaris su- 
perior and thirdly the Ramus mandi- 
bularis. Near its origin the maxil- 
laris superior gives off a long sensory 
branch (fig. 1 e) which divides over 
the masseter muscle and supplies the 
region behind the jaw articulation. 
Underneath the eye the buccalis and maxillaris superior unite to form 
a common trunk. 
I take the commissure between the Gasserian ganglion and the 
overlying ganglion to represent the Portio minor that is the Trigeminal 
portion of the Ramus ophthalmicus superficialis. The rests of the 
ophthalmicus superficialis and the buccalis are por- 
tions of the VII" or Facial nerve. 
Furthermore comparing the above nerves with those of a larval 
salamander as described by von Pressen and Raprnovicz ’) a corre- 
spondence almost extending to detail may be seen. The maxillaris 
superior is little more than a commissure between the mandibularis 
and buccalis. What is named by them buccalis is the internal mandi- 
bular branch of the Hyomandibular nerve (= chorda tympani of 
Mammalia). Thus one arrives at the result that the ophthalmicus 
superficialis and the greater portion of the so called maxillaris superior 
of Urodeles are really Facial. The ophthalmicus profundus in Poly- 
pterus is a separate nerve with a ganglion of its own. The chief function 
of the .VII™ nerve is to supply the mucous canals. 
The above mentioned nerves are completely redu- 
cible to the Selachian type’). The Hypoglossus in Poly- 
pterus is a complete spinal nerve with one sensory root and 
large ganglion. 
6) The conclusion to be drawn from the above facts is that the 
ancestry of the Urodela must be sought among the Cros- 
sopterygian forms now represented only by Polypterus and Ca- 
1) Von Pressen und Rastnoyicz, Kopfnerven von Salamandra mac. 
München, 1891. 
2) See especially Ewart, Cranial Nerves of Laemargus and Raia. Proc. 
Roy. Soc. XLV, 1889. 
24 * 
