ORGANS OF INSALTVATION. 301 



parotid is covered by cellular structure, and surrounded 

 by lymphatic glands. It is of an oval shape, and pale 

 color, and occupies a triangular space at the upper part of 

 the neck, bounded anteriorly by the base of the lower 

 jaw posteriorly and internally by the tendon and ante- 

 rior belly of the digastric muscle- externally by the stylo 

 maxillary ligament, and the pterygoideus internus muscle. 



The structure of the submaxillary is the same as the 

 parotid, consisting of granules having each an excretory 

 duct, which unite together into one common duct, called 

 the duct of Wharton, This duct leaves the gland at its an- 

 terior or middle portion, and winds above the mylo-hyoid 

 muscle, between it and the hyoglossus, thence passes for- 

 wards between the genio-hyo-glossus and sublingual gland, 

 the latter of which it touches, and finally ends in a prom- 

 inent papilla, by an open orifice, on either side of the 

 frenum linguae. This duct has thinner walls, but a larger 

 calibre than that of the parotid. It is about two and a half 

 inches long, and is accompanied by the gustatory nerve. 



function. To secrete saliva, which is carried by the duct 

 of Wharton into the mouth. If this duct, from any cause, 

 be obstructed, the saliva accumulates on the under surface 

 of the tongue, beneath its tip, forming a tumor called 

 ramula. 



3. The Sublingual Gland (Fig. 85.) This gland, oblong 

 in shape, and of all the salivary glands, smallest in size, is 

 seen by raising the tip of the tongue, and, as its name im- 

 plies, is on the under surface of its anterior and lateral part. 

 It is covered by the mucous membrane, and rests on the mylo 

 hyoid muscle. It is related to the genio-hyo-glossus and duct 

 of Wharton internally, and is connected behind with a pro- 

 cess of the submaxillary gland. Its excretory ducts do not 

 form a common duct, but have been seen to enter the mouth 

 separately by fifteen or twenty small orifices, on a kind of 

 fold or crest of the mucous membrane, between the tongue 

 and inferior bicuspid and canine teeth. The ducts, some of 

 them, enter the duct of Wharton. 



Function. The same as the parotid and submaxillary. 



