POSTERIOR FACE OF THE HEAD. 67 



As consequences of these alterations, we may find denudations^ 

 excoriations, and cicatrices resulting from the application of medicines 

 or from operations, as incising an abscess with a view of causing the 

 disappearance of the swelling. Formerly excision of the gland was 

 practised in horses over five years of age, in which the gland was 

 enlarged. Vegece had already considered this operation useless, the 

 gland being only a symptom and not the disease itself. Strange to 

 say, it has again been revived in some modern publications. 



B.— The Inferior Maxillary Region (Fig. 19). 



Situation ; Limits ; Anatomical Base. — The inferior max- 

 illary region is a double area, having for its base the rectilinear 

 branches of the inferior maxillary bone. It is limited internally by 

 the intermaxillary space, externally by the cheek, anteriorly by the 

 chin, and posteriorly, more or less distinctly, by the parotid region. 

 Its internal face presents the course of the glosso-facial artery and vein 

 and the excretory duct of the parotid gland, — Stenon's duct. These 

 three structures pass around the maxillary fissure, where they can be 

 easily distinguished through the skin and where the pulse is counted. 

 On the inner side the duct is superficial and the arterv deep. 



The two rami of this bone circumscribe a V-shaped space with the 

 apex forward, which corresponds to the intermaxillary space, and whose 

 width, as stated above, constitutes an absolute beauty. They are not 

 of the same thickness at all periods of life, and some persons attach 

 enough importance to this to judge of the age of the animal by their 

 examination alone. In young animals the molar teeth are deeply 

 implanted into their alveoli, and the maxillary bone, for this reason, 

 is of much greater thickness. Conversely, as the teeth are pushed 

 from their alveoli, whose sides will then approach each other, there is 

 an absorption of bone, the maxilla becomes thinner and the posterior 

 border acute. This phenomenon can be utilized in determining the 

 age, the border becoming sharp when the animal is about thirteen 

 years old. This, however, is not absolute, and too much importance 

 should not be attached to it. Descriptive anatomy has shown numer- 

 ous individual differences. 



Animals of a lymphatic temperament and with large skeletons have 

 thick maxillary bones. This is very marked in Shetland ponies. In 

 horses of a nervous or a nervo-sanguinary temperament they are thin 

 and fine. It indicates nothing but a race characteristic, and does not 

 influence the qualities of the animal. 



In animals belonging to the common races this region, like the 



