it is the special nerve of taste, and is distributed to the tongue. The
tenth nerve (vagus) arises by a number of roots, and passes out of the
skull, together with IX and XI, by the foramen lacerum -posterium-
[posterius] (f.l.p.). It is a conspicuous white nerve, and runs down the
neck by the side of the common carotid artery. It sends a superior
laryngeal branch (Xa) to the larynx. The left vagus passes ventral to
the aortic arch, and sends a branch (l.x.b.) under this along the
trachea to the larynx-- the recurrent laryngeal nerve. The
corresponding nerve on the right (r.x.b.) loops under the subclavian
artery. The main vagus, after this branching, passes behind the heart
to the oesophagus and along it to the stomach. XI., the spinal
accessory, supplies certain of the neck nerves. XII., the hypoglossal,
runs out of the skull by the condylar foramen (c.f.), is motor, crosses
the roots of XI., X., and IX., passes ventral to the carotid, and breaks
up among the muscles of the tongue and neck.