676 THE ORGANS OF SENSE. 
border is thick and is fixed above to the back of the internasal suture; below the level 
of the nasal bones it is continued, on either side, into the upper lateral cartilages, 
which may be looked upon as its wing-hke expansions. The lower part of this 
Frontal air-sinus - 
Nasal bone- 
Mesethmoid ___ Sphenoidal 
air-sinus 
__Processus 
sphenoidalis 
29 _—~Nomer 
Crus mediale 
of left lower 
lateral— 
cartilage 
Vomerine 
cartilage 
———Palate bone 
Superior maxilla 
Fic. 484.—LATERAL VIEW OF NASAL SEPTUM. 
border is separated by a furrow from the upper lateral cartilages and extends down- 
wards between the inferior lateral cartilages, to which it is attached by fibrous 
tissue. In this fibrous tissue a small sesamoid cartilage is usually seen on each side 
of the middle line. Its antero-inferior border is short and is attached by fibrous 
tissue to the mesial plates of the lower lateral cartilages, while its anterior angle is 
rounded and does not reach as far as the point of the nose. The lowest part of the 
nasal septum is not formed by the septal cartilage, but by the mesial plates of the 
lower lateral cartilages and by the integument, and, being freely movable, is termed 
the septum mobile nasi. The cartilage of the septum may be prolonged backwards 
(especially in children) as a tongue-like process into the angle between the vomer 
and ethmoid. This process, varying in width from 4-6 mm., is named the processus 
sphenoidalis septi cartilaginei, and sometimes reaches as far as the body of the 
sphenoid. 
Lying along the lower edge of the cartilage of the septum, and best seen on 
making a coronal section of the nose, are a couple of elongated cartilaginous strips. 
Each measures from 6-12 mm. in length, is attached to the vomer, and is named 
the vomerine cartilage (cartilago vomeronasalis, Jacobson1). 
The upper lateral cartilage (cartilago nasi lateralis, Figs. 485, 486) is triangular 
in shape and situated immediately below the nasal bone, to which and to the 
superior maxilla its thin posterior border is attached. Its anterior edge is thick 
and its upper part is directly continuous with the cartilage of the septum. Its lower 
margin is joined by fibrous tissue to the upper edge of the lower lateral cartilage. 
The lower lateral cartilage (cartilago alaris major, Figs. 485, 486, 487) encircles 
the anterior part of the nostril and assists in keeping it open. It consists of two 
plates, outer and inner, which are continuous with each other in a rounded angle 
at the point of the nose. The outer plate, or crus laterale, is oval in shape and is 
attached to the upper lateral cartilage and to the superior maxilla by fibrous tissue. 
