OF THE VEINS. 249 



CHAPTER III. 



OF THE VEINS. 



THE veins of the body, assembling from different points, unite 

 successively into the ascending and into the descending vena 

 cava, which discharge their blood into the right auricle of the 

 heart. The veins of the head, of the upper extremities, and of 

 the thorax, run into the descending cava, while the veins of the 

 abdomen and of the lower extremities concur to form the as- 

 cending cava. 



SECT. I. OF THE VEINS OF THE HEAD AND NECK. 



Many of these veins are described elsewhere with the en- 

 cephalon and with the eye, to which account the reader is 

 referred. The others are more superficial, and arise as follows: 



The Facial Vein (Vena Facials) observes the course of the 

 facial artery, being placed behind the latter. It arises upon the 

 forehead by a considerable number of roots, which unite into a 

 single trunk called the frontal vein. This vein descends from 

 the forehead, over the root of the nose, along the internal can- 

 thus of the orbit. It there receives re-enforcements from the 

 eyelids, and anastomoses with the ophthalmic veins; descending 

 afterwards, in the same way with the facial artery, and taking 

 the name of facial vein, it receives successively the veins from 

 the nose, from the outer side of the orbicularis palpebrarum, 

 from the upper and lower lips, and from the muscles and the 

 integuments of the face. It descends to the neck at the ante- 

 rior margin of the masseter muscle, and is then augmented by 

 the ranine, the submental, and the inferior palatine veins, and 

 immediately afterwards goes into the internal or the external 

 jugular vein. 



The Ranine Vein (Vena Ranina) arises at the point of the 

 tongue, and then goes along its under surface, where it can 



