BRANCHES OF THE FIFTH XERVE. 



803 



lirane of the fore part of the inferior meatus and the floor of this cavity, communi- 

 cating with the naso-palatine nerve from Meckel's ganglion. 



Termination of 



naso-palatine 



nerre. 



FIG. 484. The spheno-palatine ganglion and its branches. 



The palpebral branches pass upward beneath the Orbicularis palpebrarum. 

 They supply the integument and conjunctiva of the lower eyelid with sensation, 

 joining at the outer angle of the orbit with the facial nerve and malar branch of 

 the orbital. 



The nasal branches pass inward ; they supply the integument of the side of 

 the nose and join with the nasal branch of the ophthalmic. 



The labial branches, the largest and most numerous, descend beneath the 

 Levator labii superioris, and are distributed to the integument of the upper lip, 

 the mucous membrane of the mouth, and labial glands. 



All these branches are joined, immediately beneath the orbit, by filaments from 

 the facial nerve, forming an intricate plexus, the infra-orbital. 



Spheno-palatine Ganglion (Fig. 484). 



The spheno-palatine ganglion (JleckeVs), the largest of the cranial ganglia, is 

 deeply placed in the spheno-maxillary fossa, close to the spheno-palatine foramen. 

 It is triangular or heart-shaped, of a reddish-gray color, and is situated just below 

 the superior maxillary nerve as it crosses the f<> 



Its Branches of Communication. Like the other ganglia of the fifth nerve, it 

 possesses a motor, a sensory, and a sympathetic root. Its sensory root is derived 

 from the superior maxillary nerve through its two spheno-palatine branches. These 

 branches of the nerve, given off in the spheno-maxillary fossa, descend to the 

 ganglion. Their fibres, for the most part, pass in front of the ganglion, as they 

 proceed to their destination, in the palate and nasal fossa, and are not incorporated 

 in the ganglionic mass ; some few of the fibres, however, enter the ganglion, 

 constituting its sensory root. Its motor root is derived from the facial nerve 

 through the large superficial petrosal nerve, and its sympathetic root from the 

 carotid plexus, through the large deep petrosal nerve. These two nerves join together 

 to form a single nerve, the Vidian. before their entrance into the ganglion. 



