The Cranial Nerves of Varanus bivittatus. 459 
superior«, the alveolar canal in the maxillary bone. On this eourse 
a great number of branches are given off which may be deseribed 
as follows: 
a) Rami temporales. As soon as the nerve emerges from the 
ganglion, and while it is between the thiek masses of mm. ptery- 
goideus and eapiti-mandibularis, two branches are given off dorsally, 
elose together, and of about equal size. The first of these runs 
diagonally dorsally and ends in several branches which pierce muse. 
-*apiti-mandibularis and innervate the skin in the region of the 
temple. Other branches from this connect with the finer branches 
from (2) in the region of the laerymal gland. 
b) Ramus lacrymalis. This branch divides almost immediately 
into two parts which take the same general course as the main 
nerve to the posterior orbital region. The more dorsal part, beside 
sending conneeting branches to the main stem (2) innervate the 
lacrymal gland and upper eyelid. A fine branch also extends into 
the region of the lacrymal bone. The branches of this portion join 
with those of the ventral part in a plexus in the region of the 
laerymal gland, but the main stem of the ventral portion is larger 
and runs forward into the lower lid region, near the Harderian 
sland, and breaks up into a divergent group of fibres, and probably 
sends branches into the gland, though these were not discoverable. 
e) Ramus recurrens ad nervum facialem arises from the plexus 
formed by (1) and (2) and is an exceedingly fine nerve fibre which 
runs (as deseribed by FIscHEr for Varanus Bengalensis) with the 
arteria temporo-museularis posteriorally under the quadrato-jugal 
arch to the dorsal end of the quadrate bone where it bends inward 
and downward, still elose to the artery, and joins the posterior stem 
of nervus facialis, elose anterior to the origin of the chorda tympani. 
d) Rami communicantes cum ramo palatino VII. oecur where ner- 
vus infraorbitalis nears nervus palatinus in the ventral optie region. 
Of these two main connecting branches, the one which occeurs in 
the posterior orbital region, called by FıscHEr »ram. com. posterior 
c. ram. palatino«, is the largest connecting branch and although 
described by FISCHER as a simple branch between the two nerves, 
is in this case plainly made up of several finer elements. These 
spread out near nervus palatinus and a swelling oceurs from which 
many fine fibres radiate and conneet with other fibres of similar size 
from nervus infraorbitalis to form a plexus ventral to the bulbus 
optieus. The other main eonnecting branch, »ram. eom. ant. e. ram. 
Morpholog. Jahrbuch. 35. 30 
