MUSCLES OF THE PALATE. 



Z89 



lodged the tonf^il. The constricted passage between the anterior pillars, 

 leading from the month to the pharynx, is called the istJ/mus of the 



Fig. 213.— Diagrammatic View of the 

 Muscles of the Pharynx, &c., from 

 behind. (a. t.) j 

 The posterior wall of the pharynx has 

 lieen divided by a vertical incision in 

 the middle line, and the cut edges drawn 

 to the side so as to expose the nasal, 

 buccal, and larj'ngeal openings ; a, is 

 above the cut surface of the basi-occipital 

 bone, and below that are the posterior 

 iiares ; b, cartilage of the left Eustachian 

 tube ; €, back of the ramus of the lower 

 jaw ; d, i^osterior border of the th\Toid 

 cartilage ; c, upper part of the cricoid 

 cartilage ; /, base of the tongue above 

 the epiglottis ; ff, lower end of the 

 pharynx leading into the gullet ; 1, supe- 

 rior constrictor of tlie pharynx seen from 

 within, and part of the middle con- 

 strictor ; 2, palato-pharj-ngeus ; 2', the 

 lower part of the same muscle, on the 

 right side ; 3, placed on the internal 

 pterygoid muscle, points to the levator 

 palati ; 4, the right circumfiexus palati 

 muscle winding round the hamular 

 process ; 5, the azygos nvulte ; above 

 e, the transverse arytenoid, and below 

 it on each side the posterior crico- 

 arvtenoid muscle. 



Fig. 213. 



fauces. The soft palate is acted on by five pairs of elongated muscles, 

 two superior, one intermediate, and two inferior. 



The palato-glossus muscle, or constrictor isthmi faucium, 

 occupies the anterior pillar of the fauces. Superiorly it is anterior to 

 all the other muscles of the velum, and its fibres are continuous with 

 those of its fellow of the opposite side ; inferiorly, it is lost on the 

 side of the tongue. 



The palato-pharyngens muscle, occupying the posterior pillar of 

 the pharynx, arises in the soft palate by fibres connected with those of 

 the opposite side, and passing partly above and partly below the levator 

 palati and azygos muscles. As the muscle descends it becomes greatly 

 expanded, and its fibres are found extended from the posterior cornu 

 of the thyroid cartilage, back to the middle line of the pharynx 

 posteriorly. 



The azygos uvulae muscle (Morgagni), so called from having been 

 supposed to be a single muscle, consists of two slips, which arise, one 

 on each side of the middle line, from the tendinous structure of the 

 soft palate, and, sometimes, fi'om the spine of the palate plate, and 

 descend into the uvula. The two slips are separated by a slight 

 interval above, and unite as they descend. 



The levator palati muscle arises from the extremity of the petrous 

 portion of the temporal bone, in front of the orifice of the carotid 

 canal, and from the cartilaginous part of the Eustachian tube. Ap- 

 proaching the middle line as it passes downwards and forwards, it is 

 inserted aponeurotically into the posterior part of the soft palate^ and 



