GLAXDS OF THE ORAL CAVITY. 



519 



Fig. 348. 



The Glands of the Oral Cavity. 



The submucous areolar tissue of the mouth presents DO peculiari- 

 ties, except that it is thin and yielding on the fraena of the lips, 

 tongue, and epiglottis, and the floor of the mouth ; while it is more 

 solid where mucous glands occur ; and is firmly fixed on the root 

 of the tongue, and the soft palate, where there are also large masses 

 of ~fat in it. The glands are of three classes : the mucous, the fol- 

 licular, and the salivary glands. 



1. The mucous glands are racemose, yellowish, or whitish, of a 

 rounded form, and J to J of an inch in diameter. (Fig. 348.) Their 

 terminal vesicles, or caeca, 

 precisely resemble a simple 

 sebaceous gland. They ge- 

 nerally lie in the submu- 

 cous areolar tissue. On the 

 lips they form a ring about 

 2*4 of an inch broad round 

 the oval aperture, com- 

 mencing J of an inch from 

 the red edge of the lips. 

 They are very numerous 

 in the cheeks, but smaller. 

 Those of the hard palate 

 cover only its anterior half; 

 while those of the soft pa- 

 late are abundant, but di- 

 minish towards the free 

 edge of the uvula. Smaller 



glands also exist On itS pOS- Human racemose mucous gland from the floor of the 



torir\-r enT"Faro TViArA or A oral cavity, a. Investment of areolar tissue, b. Ex- 



riaCe ' ' cretory duct. c. Glandular vesicles (cieca). d. Ducts of 



nO glands Upon the gUmS. the lobes. Magnified 50 diameters. (KolliTcer.) 



The mucous glands of the 



root of the tongue are ^ to J of an inch in diameter. They form 

 a stratum in some parts very thick, extending almost from one 

 tonsil to the other. They, however, never extend forwards beyond 

 the middle of the tongue. The ducts of some of these glands which 

 lie in the extremity of the genio-glossus muscle, are even half an 

 inch long. Other small glands lie on the margin of the root of the 

 tongue; anc^two elongated glandular masses J to f of an inch long, 

 i to J of an inch thick, and J to J- of an inch broad, lie under the 



