THE FACIAL NERVE. 563 



Lastly, the first small branches of the facial to the back of the and 

 ear and to the digastric and stylo-hyoid muscles are to be looked 

 for close to the base of the skull just after the nerve emerges from 

 the stylo-mastuid foramen. 



The FACIAL NERVE OUTSIDE THE SKULL (fig. 205). The Branches 

 issues from the stylo-mastoid foramen, after traversing the S k u il. 



aqueduct of Fallopius, and furnishes immediately the three following 

 small branches : 



The posterior auricular branch (fig. 205) Minis upwards in Posterior 

 front of the mastoid process, where it communicates with an offset branch!^ 

 of the great auricular, and is also joined by a branch to the ear 

 from the pneui no-gastric nerve. It ends in an occipital branch to 

 the occipitalis and an auricular branch to the retrahens muscle and 

 to the small muscles on the back of the pinna. 



The branch to the digastric muscle arises generally in common Branch to 

 with the next. It is distributed by several offsets to the posterior d 'g astric - 

 belly of the muscle near the skull. 



The branch to the stylo-hyoid is a long slender nerve, which is Branch to 

 directed inwards, and enters the muscle about its middle. This st y lo - h y ld - 

 branch communicates with the sympathetic nerve on the external 

 carotid artery. 



As soon as the facial nerve has given off these branches, it is Division 

 directed forwards through the gland, and divides near the ramus of into two- 

 the jaw into two large trunks temporo-facial and cervico-facial. 



The TEMPORO-FACIAL TRUNK furnishes offsets to the side of the The upper 

 head and face which extend downwards to the level of the mouth, 

 As this trunk crosses over the external carotid artery it receives 

 one or two large branches from the auriculo-tenlporal portion of the 

 inferior maxillary nerve, and then divides into three sets of terminal has three 

 branches temporal, malar, and infraorbital, which have frequent branches 

 communications with one another as they pass forwards in the face. 



The temporal branches ascend obliquely over the zygomatic arch Temporal 

 to enter the orbicularis palpebrarum, the corrugator supercilii and 

 the f ron tails muscles ; they are united with onsets of the supra- 

 orbital nerve. The attrahens and attollens aurem muscles 

 are supplied from this set ; and a junction takes place above 

 the zygoma with the temporal branch of the superior maxillary 

 nerve. 



The malar branches are directed to the outer side of the orbit, Malar 

 and are distributed to the orbicularis muscle. Communications 

 take place in the eyelids with the palpebral filaments of the fifth 

 nerve and over the malar bone with the small subcutaneous malar 

 branch of the superior maxillary nerve. 



The infraorbital branches are larger than the rest, and are Infraorbital 

 furnished to the muscles between the eye and mouth. Close to between* eye 

 the orbit, and beneath the elevator of the upper lip, a free com- and mouth. 

 munication infraorbital plexus, is formed between these nerves 

 and the infraorbital branches of the superior maxillary. After 

 crossing the branches of the fifth nerve, some small offsets of 

 these branches pass inwards to the side of the nose, and others 



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