SOME POINTS IN THE ANATOMY OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. 35 



very small, is generally exaggerated : a ' pterygoid lobe ' cannot 

 properly be said to exist, as the front of the gland is flattened 

 up against the back of the internal pterygoid referred to above. 

 The gland can without mnch difficulty be separated from the 

 external carotid artery, which merely lies in a groove on the 

 upper and anterior part of its deep surface. On the other 

 hand, the facial nerve and the temporo-maxillary vein may 

 properly be said to pierce it. 



The term ' facial process ' may conveniently be applied to 

 the thin, flat, and somewhat triangular portion of the gland 

 which runs forward over the masseter. 



The middle third or two-fourths of Stenson's duct lies almost 

 in a transverse plane. It pierces the 'sucking pad' on its 

 way to the buccinator. Both Stenson's and Wharton's ducts 

 are very much narrower at their orifices than in the rest of 

 their course ; they may consequently be looked upon as 

 forming something in the nature of reservoirs for the saliva. 



Suhlingual gland. — In fourteen dissections made specially with 

 this object, I failed to find any of the ducts of this gland open- 

 ing into Wharton's duct as usually described, nor have I found 

 any duct corresponding to the ductus major of Bartholin. 

 Indeed, I have never seen this duct (that is, a large duct run- 

 ning with the terminal part of Wharton's duct, and opening 

 along with or beside it) but once in the human subject. 



The a2ncal glands of Nuhn or Blandin (glandula lingualis 

 anterior) are not exposed by merely removing the mucous 

 membrane from the imder surface of the tongue : in addition, a 

 layer of muscle about 1 or 2 mm. in thickness, made up of 

 fibres derived from the united styloglossus and inferior lingualis, 

 must also be reflected. The glands are mixed serous and 

 mucous. They are often much broken up by the passage of 

 muscular fibres amongst their lobules, and they measure from 

 ^ to f inch in length (12-19 mm.). 



The Tongue. — In connection with the tongue, the terms 

 ' root ' and ' base ' are often carelessly used, and by some the 

 two are employed as if they were synonymous. It would be an 

 advantage to restrict the use of the term lase to the wide 

 posterior part of the dorsum which is attached to the hyoid 



