THE SUBMAXILLARY GLAND. 471 



bunch of grapes upon its stem, a, a, a. Some of the cells 

 open by a minute excretory tube directly into the salivary 

 duct. In other instances some of the ducts of the cells uffite 

 into a common tube, before entering the salivary duct. The 

 cells are not round, and vary among themselves in regard to 

 size. 



The- average diameter of these cells, measured by a micro- 

 meter, were found by Weber, to be the ^gth part of an inch, 

 which he finds to be three times greater than that of the most 

 delicate sanguineous vessels. The cellular structure of the 

 parotid, seems therefore to be very analogous to the cellular 

 structure of the lungs discovered by Soemmering and Reisseis- 

 sen, the cells of the lungs, however, being five or six times 

 larger than those of the parotid. The elaborate researches of 

 Weber and Muller, have shown also that this is the common 

 mode of termination of the excretory ducts in the different 

 glands of the body ; viz. that they terminate in closed cells, 

 upon which ramify the delicate secretory capillary vessels. 



The second gland is called the Submaxillary. It is much 

 smaller than the parotid, and rather round in form. It is 

 situated immediately within the angle of the lower jaw, 

 between it on the outside, and the tendon of the digastric 

 muscle and the ninth pair of nerves internally. Its posterior 

 extremity is connected by cellular membrane to the parotid 

 gland ; its anterior portion lies over a part of the mylo-hyoideus 

 muscle ; and from it proceeds the excretory duct, which is of 

 considerable length, and passes between the mylo-hyoideus 

 and genio-glossus muscles along the under and inner edge of 

 the sublingual gland. In this course the duct is sometimes 

 surrounded with small glandular bodies, which seem to be 

 appendices to the sublingual gland. It terminates under the 

 tongue, on the side of the fraenum linguae, by a small orifice 

 which sometimes forms a papilla.* (See fig. 118, p. 454.) 



* Lassus informs us that Oribases, afterwards all the Arabians, and subse- 

 quently Guy De Chauliac, Lanfranc, Achillini, Berenger De Carpi, Charles 

 Etienne, Casserius and several others have given the description of these salivary 

 ducts ; notwithstanding which, Wharton, a physician of London, attributed to 

 himself the discovery of them on the bullock, in 1656. u. 



