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it sends off a large branch, the lingual,
of the lower jaw :
which goes to the tongue, which is the true gustatory nerve
;
it then enters the maxillary canal of the lower jaw, passes
through the bone under the alveoli, and gives off branches
which, entering the fangs, ramify upon the membrane within
the cavities of the teeth ; it passes out at the anterior max-
illary foramen, and is spent about the chin and lip.
The teeth are fixed in their sockets by that species of ar-
ticulation called gomphosis. They are attached to the alveo-
lar cavity by a strong periosteum which is extended over the
fangs, and which also lines the sockets is connected to
; it
the gums at the neck of the tooth, and it is vascular like the
periosteum in other parts of the body.

SECTION VIII.

OF THE ALVEOLAR PROCESSES.*

We observe the beginning of the alveolar process at a
very early period. In a fetus of three or four months, it
is only a longitudinal groove, deeper and narrower for-
wards, and becoming gradually more shallow and wider
backwards. Instead of bony partitions dividing that groove
into a number of sockets, there are only slight ridges across
the bottom and sides, with intermediate depressions, which
mark the future alveoli, f
" In the lower jaw the vessels and nerves run along the

* Natural History of the Human Teeth, by John Hunter, London, 1803.
t Page 74, 75—$.