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HEAD AND NECK 



Musculus Tensor Veil Palatini. The tensor of the soft 

 palate is a flat, triangular muscle which is closely applied to 

 the deep surface of the internal pterygoid muscle. It arises 

 from the scaphoid fossa at the root of the medial pterygoid 

 lamina, from the posterior border of the lower surface of the 

 great wing of the sphenoid, from the spine of the sphenoid, 

 and from the lateral aspect of the auditory tube (O.T. 

 Eustachian). It descends to the lower end of the medial 

 pterygoid lamina, and ends in a tendon which turns hori- 

 zontally, under the hamulus, into the soft palate, where its 

 attachments will be seen later when the soft palate is dissected. 



THE GREAT VESSELS AND NERVES 

 OF THE NECK. 



As soon as the dissection of the infratemporal and the 

 submaxillary regions is completed, the dissector should turn 

 to the study of the external carotid artery and its relations. 



Arteria Carotis Externa. The external carotid artery is 

 one of the two terminal branches of the common carotid. It 

 commences at the level of the upper border of the thyreoid 

 cartilage, opposite the fibre-cartilage between the third and 

 fourth cervical vertebrae ; and, after running upwards and 

 backwards to the. level of the neck of the mandible, it 

 terminates, between that portion of bone and the upper part 

 of the antero-medial surface of the parotid gland, by dividing 

 into two terminal branches the superficial temporal and the 

 internal maxillary arteries. At its commencement it lies 

 anterior and medial to the internal carotid artery ; and it is 

 called external because it is distributed mainly to the parts 

 on the exterior, of the skull. It is, at first, comparatively 

 superficial in the upper part of the carotid triangle ; next, it 

 passes under cover of the lower part of the postero-medial 

 surface of the parotid gland, and the posterior belly of the 

 digastric and the stylo-hyoid muscles. At the upper border 

 of the stylo-hyoid it enters a groove in the medial border of 

 the parotid, through which it passes to the upper part of the 

 antero-medial surface of the gland, behind the neck of the 

 mandible, where it terminates (Figs. 51, 73, 74). 



Relations. As it lies in the carotid triangle it is covered 

 by the skin, superficial fascia and platysma, branches of the 



