24 ANATOMY OF THE HEAD AND NECK. 



ceding ; its filaments are distributed upon the lower part 

 of the face as buccal, supra-maxillarj- and infra-maxillary 

 branches ; the supra-maxillary branches course inward 

 toward the chin, and beneath the depressor anguli oris 

 anastomose with the inferior dental branch of the fifth 

 nerve. The web-like aspect of this network of communi- 

 cating branches has given them collectively the name of 

 pes anserinus. 



The auriculo-temporal branch of the inferior maxillary 

 trunk of the fifth pair is also partly seen in this dissec- 

 tion ; it emerges from beneath the parotid gland and 

 ascends in company with the temporal arteiy to the side 

 of the head; it communicates with the facial nerve and 

 supplies the integument in front of the ear, the terminal 

 branches being distributed to the epicranial and temporal 

 aponeuroses. 



The infra-maxillary branches are situated below the 

 lower jaw, lying beneath the plat3 r sma, and ramify as far 

 as the hyoid bone. 



PAROTID GLAND AND REGION. 



The PAROTID GLAND, the largest of the salivary glands, is 

 an irregularly shaped body made up of lobes and lobules ; 

 it lies in front of the ear, and is partly covered by the pla- 

 tysma muscle ; it is limited above by the zygomatic arch, 

 behind by the meatus of the ear and the sterno-mastoid 

 muscle; inferiorly, it descends as low as the posterior 

 belly of the digastricus muscle, and its deep surface pene- 

 trates in various directions to a considerable depth ; 

 anteriorly, it expands upon* the side of the face, and a 

 small accessory part, called soda parotidis, is prolonged 

 from it over the masseter muscle. Its excretory duct, 

 called the duct of Steno, is given off from the anterior por- 

 tion ; it can be traced but a short distance into the sub- 

 stance of the gland itself; the length of the duct is about 

 two inches and a half, and its size is about equal to that of 

 a crow-quill. It is composed of a fibrous and a mucous 

 coat, and perforates the cheek obliquely opposite the 

 second molar tooth of the upper jaw. A line drawn 

 from the meatus auditorius to a little below the nostril 

 would mark the course of the duct in the cheek, and its 

 orifice would correspond to a spot midway between these 

 two limits. This is a point to be remembered in operations 

 on the face. The internal carotid arteiy and internal jugu- 



