NOSE. 



727 



Fig. 402. 



Lateral view of the pinnal cartilages. 



nose, and the cartilages of the nostrils, be- 

 cause they surround and in great measure de- 

 termine the form of those apertures. The chief 

 portion of each of them is nearly elliptical, 

 anA occupies the anterior part of the ala of the 

 nose. Posteriorly, this portion either becomes 

 suddenly narrower, and is continued in a long, 

 undulating, and curved process through the 

 middle part of the ala to the posterior and 

 outer boundary of the nostril ; or else it ab- 

 ruptly ceases, and, in place of the process, 

 there is a row of three or more small oval 

 portions of cartilage, (sesamoid cartilages,) 

 imbedded in the fibrous membrane which 

 forms the rest of the basis of the ala, and 

 connects all the moveable cartilages to one 

 another. Anteriorly, this chief elliptical por- 

 tion is also continued into a narrow process, 

 which, after proceeding for a very short dis- 

 tance forwards, turns round abruptly, and is 

 directed backwards and a little downwards by 

 the side of the lower margin of the cartilaginous 

 septum, to which, as well as to its fellow on the 

 opposite side, it is pretty closely connected by 

 fibre-cellular tissue. In this course, the carti- 

 lage reaches a little beyond the anterior edge of 

 the septum, so that, at the tip of most noses, 

 there is in the middle line a small fossa bounded 

 on each side by the lateral cartilages, and at the 

 bottom of which is the anterior edge of the 

 septum. The inner portion of this cartilage 

 extends along about two-thirds of the inner 

 boundary of the nostril, and terminates in an 

 evenly rounded border; its lower margin is 

 always rather lower than that of the cartilagi- 

 nous septum, and assists in giving width and 

 support to the columna. Sometimes, but more 

 rarely, this inner process of the inferior cartilage 

 is, like the posterior and outer process, separate 

 from the chief elliptical portion. 



The structure of the cartilages of the nose 

 is essentially similar to that of the articular 

 and other true cartilages, (cartilagines fgu- 

 ratte, Meckauer.) Their cells are numerous, 

 very close set and large ; and next to each of 

 their surfaces there are two or three layers of 

 thin flattened cells, which give the borders of a 

 section through the thickness of the cartilage a 

 somewhat fibrous aspect. But the basis-sub- 

 stance is, in reality, entirely destitute of fibres. 



The greater rigidity and firmness of the sep- 

 tum-cartilage is due to its greater thickness ; 

 its minute structure is similar to that of the 

 cartilages of the alee. The latter are easily 

 flexible, but the pliancy of the sides of the nose 

 does not depend on them alone, but in as great 

 a degree on the tough fibro-cellular membrane 

 in which they are imbedded. The combination 

 of the two tissues is indeed admirably adapted 

 to the purposes which are to be served. The 



cartilages are sufficiently rigid to give the ala; a 

 definite form during rest; and they are so 

 elastic that, when the nostrils have been either 

 compressed or expanded, they are restored to 

 their natural position by the recoil of the carti- 

 lages, without any muscular effort. If the 

 whole side of the nose had been formed of 

 cartilage, much stronger muscles would have 

 been needed for the several movements of the 

 nostrils; but, by the intervention of small por- 

 tions of fibro-cellular membrane, these move- 

 ments, whether rapid or long-sustained, are ef- 

 fected by some of the weakest muscles of the 

 body, and with a scarcely perceptible effort of 

 the will. The arrangement is somewhat ana- 

 logous to that in which strength and flexibility 

 are combined by strong scales or plates being 

 set on the pliant substance of the skin of va- 

 rious animals. 



The muscles of the nose, like those of the rest 

 of the face, are but ill-delined, and anatomists 

 have differed much in both the description and 

 the enumeration of them. The following ac- 

 count is drawn from the results of several dis- 

 sections purposely made, and compared with 

 the descriptions of Santorini,* Arnold,f 

 Theile,J and others, who have examined the 

 matter for themselves. 



Fig. 403. 



Muscles of the nose. 



a, nasal bone; b, nasal process of superior 

 maxillary bone ; c, pyraraidalis nasi ; d, d, leva- 

 tor labii superioris alaeque nasi ; e, e, triangularis ; 

 f, depressor alse nasi; y, compressor narium minor; 

 h, dilatator narium anterior ; i, orbicularis oris; It, 

 depressor septi narium. 



* Observationes Anatomies, cap. i. 

 f Icones Anatomies, Fasc. II. tab. viii. 

 i Soemmerins;, Vom Baue des Menschlichen 

 Korj.ers, Bd. iii. 



