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OSTEOLOGY 



The Palatine Process (processus palatinus; palatal process}. The palatine 

 process, thick and strong, is horizontal and projects medialward from the nasal 

 surface of the bone. It forms a considerable part of the floor of the nose and the 

 roof of the mouth and is much thicker in front than behind. Its inferior surface 

 (Fig. 160) is concave, rough and uneven, and forms, with the palatine process of 

 the opposite bone, the anterior three-fourths of the hard plate. It is perforated 

 by numerous foramina for the passage of the nutrient vessels; is channelled at the 

 back part of its lateral border by a groove, sometimes a canal, for the transmission 

 of the descending palatine vessels and the anterior palatine nerve from the spheno- 

 palatine ganglion; and presents little depressions for the lodgement of the palatine 

 glands. When the two maxillae are articulated, a funnel-shaped opening, the 

 incisive foramen, is seen in the middle line, immediately behind the incisor teeth. 

 In this opening the orifices of two lateral canals are visible; they are named the 



Incisive canals 



Incisive foramen 



Foramina of Scarpa 



Palatine process of maxilla \ \ Greater palatine foramen 



Horizontal plate of palatine bone Lesser palatine foramina 



FIG. 160. The bony palate and alveolar arch. ' 



incisive canals or foramina of Stenson; through each of them passes the terminal 

 branch of the descending palatine artery and the nasopalatine nerve. Occasionally 

 two additional canals are present in the middle line; they are termed the foramina 

 of Scarpa, and when present transmit the nasopalatine nerves, the left passing 

 through the anterior, and the right through the posterior canal. On the under 

 surface of the palatine process, a delicate linear suture, well seen in young skulls, 

 may sometimes be noticed extending lateralward and forward on either side from 

 the incisive foramen to the interval between the lateral incisor and the canine tooth. 

 The small part in front of this suture constitutes the premaxilla (os incisimm), 

 which in most vertebrates forms an independent bone; it includes the whole thick- 

 ness of the alveolus, the corresponding part of the floor of the nose and the anterior 

 nasal spine, and contains the sockets of the incisor teeth. The upper surface of 

 the palatine process is concave from side to side, smooth, and forms the greater 

 part of the floor of the nasal cavity. It presents, close to its medial margin, the 



