The Salivary Glands

The parotid gland is smaller than that of the horse, and is light red-brown in color. It has somewhat the form of a very narrow long triangle, and lies chiefly on the posterior part of the masseter muscle. The thick wide upper end partly covers a large subparotid lymph gland. The small lower end is bent forward and fits into the angle of union of the jugular and external maxillary veins; it lies on the submaxillary gland. The parotid duct leaves the lower part of the deep face; in its course it resembles that of the horse, but it pierces the cheek opposite the fifth upper cheek tooth.

The submaxillary gland is very large, and is pale yellow in color. It is covered to a small extent by the parotid. Its general form resembles that of the horse, but its lower (or anterior) end is large and rounded, and is separated by a small interval only from the gland of the other side. This part can be distinctly felt in the living animal, and is related externally to a large submaxillary lymph gland. The duct leaves the middle of the superficial face of the gland, crosses the stylo-hyoideus and the intermediate tendon of the digastricus, and is then disposed as in the horse.

The sublingual gland consists of two parts. The dorsal part (Glandula sublingualis parvicanalaris) is long, thin, and pale yellow in color. It extends from the anterior pillar of the soft palate about to the symphysis of the jaw. It has numerous small tortuous ducts (Ductus sublinguales minores), which open between the papillæ under the side of the tongue. The ventral part is shorter and thicker, and is salmon pink in color. It has a single duct (Ductus sublingualis major), which either opens alongside of or joins the submaxillary duct.