Landmarks, medical and surgical / by Luther Holden.

  • Luther Holden
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Landmarks, medical and surgical / by Luther Holden. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    28. Nose and nasal cavities.—The line where the car- tilages of the nose are attached to the nasal and superior maxillary bones can be traced with precision. The close con- nection of the skin to the cartilages admits of no stretching ; hence the acute pain felt in erysipelas and boils on the nose. The external aperture of the nose is always placed a little lower than the floor of the nostril, so that the nose must be pulled up before we can inspect its cavities. Looking into the nostrils, we find that the left is, in the majority of cases, narrower than the right, owing to an incli- nation of the septum towards the left. A communica- tion sometimes exists between them, through a hole in the septum as in the case of the celebrated anatomist Hildebrandt. By stretching open the anterior nares, and throwing well back the head, we can get a view of the end of the inferior spongy bone. It might be mistaken for a polypus. The middle spongy bone cannot be seen ; its attachment to the ethmoid is high up, nearly opposite the tendo oculi. The cavities are so much narrowed transversely by the spongy bones, that in the extraction of polypi it is better to dilate the blades of the forceps perpendicularly, and near the septum. 29. Mouth.—What can be seen and felt through the mouth ? The upper surface of the tongue, ' speculum prima- rum viarum? is a study in itself. We notice, on its under surface, a median furrow, on each side of which stands out the ranine vein, lying upon the prominent fibres of the lingualis. In the middle line of the floor of the mouth is the 'frenum linguae,' with the orifice of the duct of the sub- maxillary gland on each side of it. The gland itself can be detected immediately beneath the mucous membrane by feeling further back near the angle of the jaw, at the same time pressing the gland upwards from below. The long ridge of mucous membrane on each side of the floor contains the sublingual glands. We can feel the attachment of the 'genio-hyo-glossi' behind the symphysis of the jaw. The division of this attachment would enable a surgeon to draw the tongue more