Tongue - Glass Slide #144

The greater portion of the tongue is filled with striated muscle fibers. In this example note that the fibers run in all three anatomical planes. The muscle is innervated by the myelinated hypoglossal nerve (Cranial nerve 12), branches of which can be observed scattered throughout the tongue. In some sections, non-myelinated nerves and associated autonomic ganglia can be observed. Numerous filiform papillae are present in cross section.