654 



MEDULLA OBLONGATA AND THE CRANIAL NERVES 



branches in part to the nucleus alae cinereae and in part to the nucleus 

 tractus solitarii. Its sensory and motor fibers are thereby brought 

 into close relationship with those of the vagus nerve. 



Its musculomotor function is restricted to the muscles of the 

 pharynx (muse, stylopharyngeus) and its secretomotor function to 

 the parotid gland. The latter is reached by way of the ganglion 

 petrosum, nervus tympanicus, nervus petrosus superficiahs minor, 

 ganglion oticum and nervus auriculotemporalis. Its sensory fibers 

 are in relation with the mucous membrane of the tongue, pharynx, 



Fig. 326. — Diagram Showing the Bra.in Connections of the Vagus, Glossopharyngeal, 

 Auditory, Facla-l, Abducens, and Trigeminal Nerves. {After Obersteiner.) 



tonsils, tympanic cavity and Eustachian tube. It also conveys 

 the sensations of taste from the posterior third of the tongue and the 

 lateral aspect of the fauces. 



10. The vagus or pneumogastric nerve arises from the same nuclei 

 as the ninth nerve, and emerges from the side of the medulla posterior 

 to the superficial origin of the preceding. It is a mixed nerve. Its 

 motor fibers are traceable to the nucleus ambiguus and the dorsal 

 or vagus nucleus. Its sensory fibers take their origin in the ganglion 

 jugulare and ganglion nodosum and pass to the nucleus alse cinereae 

 and, in small numbers, also to the nucleus tractus solitarii. While 

 the function of this nerve will be considered in detail in connection with 



