558 ANGIOLOGY 



Branches. Its branches are: 



Pharyngeal. Pre vertebral. 



Palatine. Inferior Tympanic. 



Posterior Meningeal. 



The Pharyngeal Branches (rami pharyngei) are three or four in number. Two 

 of these descend to supply the Constrictores pharyngis medius and inferior and 

 the Stylopharyngeus, ramifying in their substance and in the mucous membrane 

 lining them. 



The Palatine Branch varies in size, and may take the place of the ascending 

 palatine branch of the facial artery, when that vessel is small. It passes inward 

 upon the Constrictor pharyngis superior, sends ramifications to the soft palate 

 and tonsil, and supplies a branch to the auditory tube. 



The Prevertebral Branches are numerous small vessels, which supply the Longi 

 capitis and colli, the sympathetic trunk, the hypoglossal and vagus nerves, and the 

 lymph glands; they anastomose with the ascending cervical artery. 



The Inferior Tympanic Artery (a. tympanica inferior) is a small branch which 

 passes through a minute foramen in the petrous portion of the temporal bone, in 

 company with the tympanic branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve, to supply the 

 medial wall of the tympanic cavity and anastomose with the other tympanic arteries. 



The Meningeal Branches are several small vessels, which supply the dura mater. 

 One, the posterior meningeal, enters the cranium through the jugular foramen; 

 a second passes through the foramen lacerum; and occasionally a third through 

 the canal for the hypoglossal nerve. 



7. The superficial temporal artery (a. temporalis superficialis) (Fig. 508), the 

 smaller of the two terminal branches of the external carotid, appears, from its 

 direction, to be the continuation of that vessel. It begins in the substance of the 

 parotid gland, behind the neck of the mandible, and crosses over the posterior root 

 of the zygomatic process of the temporal bone; about 5 cm. above this process 

 it divides into two branches, a frontal and a parietal. 



Relations. As it crosses the zygomatic process, it is covered by the Auricularis anterior muscle, 

 and by a dense fascia; it is crossed by the temporal and zygomatic branches of the facial nerve 

 and one or two veins, and is accompanied by the auriculotemporal nerve, which lies immediately 

 behind it. 



Branches. Besides some twigs to the parotid gland, to the temporomandibular 

 joint, and to the Masseter muscle, its branches are: 



Transverse Facial. Anterior Auricular. 



Middle Temporal. Frontal. 



Parietal. 



The Transverse Facial Artery (a. transversa faciei) is given off from the superficial 

 temporal before that vessel quits the parotid gland; running forward through the 

 substance of the gland, it passes transversely across the side of the face, between 

 the parotid duct and the lower border of the zygomatic arch, and divides into numer- 

 ous branches, which supply the parotid gland and duct, the Masseter, and the 

 integument, and anastomose with the external maxillary, masseteric, buccinator, 

 and infraorbital arteries. This vessel rests on the Masseter, and is accompanied 

 by one or two branches of the facial nerve. 



The Middle Temporal Artery (a. temporalis media) arises immediately above the 

 zygomatic arch, and, perforating the temporal fascia, gives branches to the Tem- 

 poralis, anastomosing with the deep temporal branches of the internal maxillary. 

 It occasionally gives off a zygomaticoorbital branch, which runs along the upper 

 border of the zygomatic arch, between the two layers of the temporal fascia, to 

 the lateral angle of the orbit. This branch, which may arise directly from the 



