178 The Elastic Tissue of the Human Larynx 



vocal process of the arytenoid cartilage. While these sections are instruc- 

 tive, much more may he learned 1)y tracing transverse sections serially. 



In transverse sections made through the ligamentum crieothyreoideum 

 medium, the elastic fihers are found grouped in well-defined vertical 

 bundles, which are separated from each other by horizontal fibers passing 

 inward toward the indefinite median raphe. Fine elastic fibers, verti- 

 cally directed, which surround numerous groups of mucous glands, pass 

 from the subepithelial layer to the ligament. (See Fig. 4.) 



More posteriorly the fibers of the conus pass obliquely, upward, for- 

 ward and mediad, but they are intersected by other fibers passing 

 almost at right angles to them. The oblique fibers predominate, both in 

 size and number. Traced backward, the elastic fibers of the conus are 

 found to be attached to the cricoid cartilage. Anastomosing fibers, most 

 numerous anteriorly, connect the fibers of the conus with the subepithe- 

 lial layer, where the two systems are not separated by the glands pre- 

 viously mentioned. (See Fig. 5.) 



In transverse sections just below the ligamentum vocale, the arrange- 

 ment of elastic fibers anteriorly has been accurately described by Fried- 

 rich. The elastic tissue, reduced in amount, is replaced by collagenic 

 fibers, which separate the fibers of the conus from the hyaline substance 

 of the thvroid cartilage. This collagenic tissue is rich in glands. The 

 nearer the ventricle is approached, the more nearly horizontal the fibers 

 become to form the 



Ligamentum Yocale. {See Fig. 7.) 



Henle,* in describing the ligamentum vocale, states that some of its 

 elastic fibers fuse posteriorly with the elastic cartilage, forming the vocal 

 process of the arytenoid. Other fibers are attached about the spina 

 inferior, above the vocal process, and from this attachment fibers course 

 upward posterior to the ventricle of the larynx. Still other fibers are 

 inserted below the vocal jDrocess upon the medial surface of the arytenoid 

 cartilage, or upon the anterior surface of the cricoid cartilage. 



Kanthack ' describes posteriorly a sesamoid cartilage, which marks the 

 point of transition of the elastic fibers of the ligamentum vocale into the 

 vocal process of the arytenoid cartilage. 



Reinke's * description of the arrangement of the elastic fibers at the 

 posterior extremity of the ligamentum vocale, and their relation to the 



*Henle: Handb. der Eingeweidelehre des Menschen; p. 255. 

 'Kanthack: Arch. f. path. Anat., etc.. Berl.. Bd. cxvii, p. 533. 

 ^Reinke: Anat. Hefte. Bd. ix, pp. 108-110. 



