252 ANATOMY OF THE RABBIT. 
(d) The sixth cranial, or abducent nerve (n. abducens), is 
distributed to the rectus lateralis, and to the retractor oculi. 
(e) The ophthalmic nerve (n. ophthalmicus), the first division 
of the fifth cranial, or trigeminal nerve (n. trigeminus), 
accompanies the inferior ophthalmic artery on the medial 
wall of the orbit. It gives off a lacrimal nerve, which 
passes upward through the posterior foramen of the supra- 
orbital process, and then passing forward a short distance 
divides in two parts. One of these, the frontal nerve, 
leaves the orbit through the anterior supraorbital foramen, 
while the other, the nasociliary nerve, is partly distributed 
to the anterior portion of the orbit, and is connected with the 
minute ciliary ganglion lying on the optic nerve, forming its 
sensory root. Its chief portion leaves the orbit through 
the ethmoidal foramen of the orbital portion of the frontal 
bone as the ethmoidal nerve. 
The lacrimal, frontal and nasociliary nerves appear as 
separate structures in the orbit, their origin being deep. 
(f) The branches of the maxillary nerve (n. maxillaris), the 
second division of the trigeminus, traverse the ventral por- 
tion of the orbit passing forward in company with the 
internal maxillary artery. They include the spheno- 
palatine nerve (n. sphenopalatinus) and the infraorbital 
nerve (n. infraorbitalis). The latter gives off superior 
alveolar branches co the upper teeth, passing forward 
through the infraorbital groove and foramen to the face. 
The connections of the sphenopalatine nerve may be examined 
by first dividing both nerves at the posterior angle of the orbit; then 
separating the slender sphenopalatine nerve from the ventral sur- 
face of the cord and turning the principal, infraorbital portion 
forward. A third nerve, the nerve of the pterygoid canal, should 
remain intact on the orbital wall. If the infraorbital nerve alone 
is divided, the sphenopalatine nerve will be found on the surface 
of the bone below the nerve of the pterygoid canal, from which 
it may be distinguished by its lighter coloration. 
The sphenopalatine nerve is continued forward as the anterior 
(major) palatine nerve, which passes through the pterygopalatine 
canal to the posterior portion of the hard palate, but is also con- 
