HERPES zoster affecting the head, especially auricular herpes zoster (herpes zoster oticus), is often associated with facial paralysis and lesions of the eighth nerve. Herpes zoster of the outer ear, combined with lesions of the seventh or the eighth cranial nerve or both, is generally called Hunt's syndrome. Hunt1 discussed this syndrome in a series of papers. In connection with these studies, he suggested that the geniculate ganglion might be the origin of sensory fibers in the facial nerve, a theory which has received anatomic support. According to Hunt, the "geniculate area" would comprise the concha and certain other parts of the auricle, part of the external auditory meatus and some "remnants of the geniculate visceral sensory system" on the palate and tongue. Herpetic infection of the geniculate ganglion would produce vesicles in exactly this area. Although there is still no definite histopathologic evidence of the existence of herpetic