FACIAL NERVE. 445 



the auditory nerve or portio mollis of the seventh pair. Soemmering 

 makes the auditory nerve the eighth pair ; but, retaining the classifi- 

 cation of Willis, we regard it as a part of the seventh with the 

 facial. 



FACIAL NERVE, (portio dura). The facial nerve arises from the 

 upper part of the groove between the corpus olivare and corpus resti- 

 forme, close to the pons Varolii, from which point its fibres may be 

 traced deeply into the corpus restiforme. The nerve then passes for- 

 wards, resting upon the crus cerebelli, and comes into relation with the 

 anditory nerve, with which it enters the meatus auditorius internus, 

 lying at first to the inner side of, and then upon that nerve. At the 

 bottom of the meatus it enters the canal expressly intended for it, the 

 aqueductus Fallopii, and directs its course forwards towards the hiatus 

 Fallopii, where it forms a gangliform swelling (intumescentia gangli- 

 fonnis), and receives the petrosal branch of the Vidian nerve. It then 

 curves backwards towards the tympanum, and descends along the inner 

 wall of that cavity to the stylo-mastoid foramen. Emerging at the 

 stylo-mastoid foramen it passes forwards within the parotid gland, 

 crossing the external jugular vein and external carotid artery, and at 

 the ramus of the lower jaw divides into two trunks, temporo-facial and 

 cervico-facial. These trunks at once split into numerous branches 

 which, after forming a number of looped communications (pes anseri- 

 nus) with each other over the masseter muscle, spread out upon the 

 side of the face, from the temple to the neck, to be distributed to the 

 muscles of this extensive region. The communications which the facial 

 nerve maintains in its course are the following : in the meatus audito- 

 rius, it sends one or two filaments to the auditory nerve ; the intu- 

 mescentia gangliformis receives the nervus petrosus superficialis major 

 and minor, and sends a twig back to the auditory nerve ; behind the 

 tympanum the nerve receives one or two twigs from the auricular 

 branch of the pneumogastric ; at its exit from the stylo-mastoid fora- 

 men it receives a twig from the glosso-pharyngeal, and in the parotid 

 gland one or two large branches from the anterior auricular nerve. 

 Besides these, the facial nerve has numerous peripheral communica- 

 tions, with the branches of the fifth nerve on the face, and of the cer- 

 vical nerves in the parotid gland and neck. The numerous communi- 

 cations of the facial nerve obtained for it the designation of nervus 

 sympatfieticus minor. 



The Branches of the facial nerve are 



Within the aqueductus { Tympanic, 

 Fallopii. \ Chorda tympani. 



, ,7 f Posterior auricular, 

 After emerging at the) ^. , , ., 



