Chap, viii.] THE PHARYNX. 113 



backwards. It is widest at the level of the tip of the 

 greater. cornua of the hyoid bone, where it measures 

 about two inches. It is narrowest where it joins the 

 gullet opposite the cricoid cartilage, its diameter here 

 being less than three-quarters of an inch. The 

 pharynx is not so large a space as supposed, for it 

 must be remembered that during life it is viewed 

 very obliquely, and erroneous notions are thus 

 formed of its antero - posterior dimensions. The 

 distance from the arch of the teeth to the com- 

 mencement of the gullet is about six inches, a 

 measurement that should be borne in mind in ex- 

 tracting foreign bodies. Foreign bodies passed into 

 the pharynx are most apt to lodge at the level of 

 the cricoid cartilage, a point that, in the adult, is a 

 little beyond the reach of the finger. The history of 

 foreign bodies in the pharynx shows that that cavity 

 is very dilatable, and can accommodate for some time 

 large substances. Thus, in a case reported by Dr. 

 Geoghegan, a man of sixty, who had for months some 

 trouble in his throat for which he could not account, 

 was supposed to have cancer. On examination, how- 

 ever, a plate carrying five false teeth, and presenting 

 niches for five natural ones, was found embedded in 

 the pharynx, where it had been lodged for five 

 months. The plate had been swallowed during sleep 

 (Med. Press, 1866). In the Lancet for 1868 is an 

 account of a mutton chop that became lodged in 

 the pharynx of a gluttonous individual. The 

 chop presented the ordinary vertebral segment of 

 bone, together with one and a half inches of rib, 

 and was " pretty well covered with meat." At- 

 tempts to remove it failed, and it was finally 

 vomited up. Among the strangest foreign bodies 

 in this part, are live cat-fish, that are said to have 

 jumped into the mouths of bathers while swimming. 

 Dr. Norman Chevers ("Manual of Med. Jurisprudence 

 I 



