1254 HUMAN ANATOMY. 



fibres of the chorda tympani, on the other hand, are distributed to the mucous 

 membrane covering the anterior two-thirds of the side and dorsum of the tongue, 

 and are probably concerned in transmitting taste-impulses. 



6. The communicating branch to the auricular branch of the vagus 

 (r. anastomoticus c. ramo auriculari n. vagi) is given off just above the stylo-mastoid 

 foramen and joins the auricular at the point where the latter crosses the facial canal. 



7. The posterior auricular nerve (n. auricularis posterior) arises just outside 

 the stylo-mastoid foramen. It passes backward and upward between the external 

 ear and the mastoid process and divides into (a) an occipital branch, which supplies 

 the occipitalis muscle and {U) an auricular branch, which supplies the posterior auric- 

 ular muscle, often partially the superior, and the transversus, the obliquus and the 

 antitragicus of the intrinsic muscles of the auricle. 



The posterior auricular nerve communicates with the auricular branch of the 

 vagus, the small occipital and the great auricular nerve. 



8. The digastric branch (r. digastricus) arises from the facial below the pos- 

 terior auricular nerve and breaks up into several filaments which enter the posterior 

 belly of the digastric. One of these filaments, after passing through or above the 

 digastric, may join the glosso-pharyngeal nerve. 



9. The stylo-hyoid branch (r. stylohyoideus) is a small twig which arises in 

 common with the digastric branch and passes forward to enter the posterior portion 

 of the stylo-hyoid muscle. 



10. The temporo-facial division (r. temporofacialis) (Fig. 1087) is the 

 larger of the two terminal branches. It traverses the upper portion of the parotid 

 gland in a forward and upward direction, lying superficial to the external carotid 

 artery and the temporo-maxillary vein. By repeated branchings and unions the 

 nerve forms an intricate looped plexus which breaks up into three more or less defi- 

 nite groups. 



Branches. — These are: {a) the temporal, (b) the malar 2i.vid (c) the infraorbital. 



a. The tempoi'al branches ( rr. temporales) pass upward and forward over the zygomatic 

 arch and supply the frontalis, the corrugator supercilii, the upper part of the orbicularis palpe- 

 brarum, the auricularis superior and the auricularis anterior. 



The temporal branches of the facial communicate with the following branches of the 

 trigeminal : the auriculo-temporal, the supraorbital, the lachrymal and the temporal branch of 

 the temporo-malar. 



b. The malar branches (rr. zygomatici) are rather small. They extend forward over the 

 malar bone and are sometimes incorporated with the temporal or infraorbital branches. They 

 supply the lateral part of the orbicularis palpebrarum and sometimes the zygomatici major 

 et minor. 



The malar branches communicate with the malar branch of the temporo-malar. 



c. The iyifraorbital branches (rr. buccales superiores) are comparatively large. They course 

 horizontally forward across the masseter muscle in company with the parotid duct and supply 

 the lower part of the orbicularis palpebrarum, a portion of the buccinator, the zygomatici major 

 et minor and the muscles of the nose and upper lip. 



The most important of the communications is the one between the infraorbital and the 

 terminal branches of the maxillary division of the trigeminal. This is a sensory-motor plexus 

 which lies below the infraorbital foramen and under the levator labii superioris and is called the 

 infraorbital plexus (Fig. 1068). The nasal and infratrochlear nerves communicate with the 

 infraorbital at the side of the nose. 



• 



11. The cervico-facial division (r. cervicofacialis) (Fig. 1087) is the smaller 

 of the terminal branches of the facial and resembles in its general arrangement the 

 temporo-facial. It passes downward, outward and forward through the parotid 

 gland and finally breaks up into three branches. 



Branches. — These are : (a) the buccal, (J)) the supramandibular and (f) the 

 inframandibular. 



• a. The buccal branch (rr. buccales) may be single or multiple. It crosses the masseter 



and supplies the buccinator and orbicularis oris muscles. 



It communicates on the outer surface of the buccinator muscle with the sensory buccal 

 branch of the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve. * 



