THE HEAD AND NECK 



1251 



Nerve-supply.— TYiQ pharyngeal plexus. The du-ection of the 

 muscle is backwards and downwards. 



Action. — To elevate and shorten the uvula. 



The muscle is double at its origin, but single at its insertion. It 

 lies above the levator palati, and beneath the upper layer of the 

 palato-pharvngeus. . 



Levator Palati — Origin. — (i) The rough surface on the mfenor 

 aspect of the petrous part of the temporal bone between the apex 

 and the carotid foramen, and (2) the lower and posterior part of the 

 cartilage of the Eustachian tube. 



Eustachian Cushion 



Posterior Border 

 of the Vomer 



kight Posterior Naris 



/ Levator Palati 



Salpingo- 



pharyngeus 



Azygos Uvulae 



Palato- 

 pharyngeus" 



Tensor Palati 



. Internal Pterygoid 

 Uwila 



-- Rooi of Tongue 



1 Epiglottis 



Wall of Pharynx 



Sinus Pyriformis 

 Arytsenoideus Obliquus 

 Arytanoideus Transversus 



Crico-arytienoideus 

 Posticus 



CEsophagus 



Fig 511. — The Pharynx opened from behind. 



Insertion. — ^The aponeurosis of the soft palate, its posterior fibres 

 becoming continuous across the middle line with the corresponding 

 fibres of the opposite muscle. 



Nerve-supply. — ^The pharyngeal plexus. Another view, however, 

 is that the muscle is supplied by the posterior descending palatine 

 perve from Meckel's ganglion, which conveys fibres of the facial 

 nerve through the great superficial petrosal and Vidian nerves. 



The muscle is directed downwards, forwards, and inwards. 



Action. — (i) To raise the soft palate, and (2) to press upwards the 

 membranous floor of the Eustachian tube, and so lead to closure 

 of the Eustachian orifice during deglutition (Cleland). 



