GLOSSARY 399 



Vascular. Having many blood-vessels. 



Vaso -motor. Literally, vessel-mover. Applied to the nerves which dilate blood- 

 vessels or contract them, or vaso-dilators and vase-constrictors. 



Velum. Veil. Velum palati, the veil, or soft hanging portion of the palate or roof 

 of the mouth. 



Vena cava. A large hollow vein. 



Venesection. Cutting a vein. "Bleeding" or phlebotomy. 



Ventral. Toward the front of the body, as the ventral cavity. 



Ventricle. Literally, a little belly. From the Latin venter. A cavity in the brain, 

 or in the heart. 



Vermiform. Worm-shaped. 



Vertebra. From a Latin word meaning to turn. Certain movements of the verte- 

 brae turn the body from side to side. 



Vertex. The crown of the head. 



Vestibule. A cavity of the internal ear through which stimulating impulses are 

 transmitted to auditory and vestibular nerves. 



Villus. A hair (pi. villi). The villi of the intestine are hair-like in shape and belong 

 to the mucous coat. 



Viscus. An internal organ of the head or trunk. (Plural, viscera.) 



Vitreous. Glassy. The vitreous humor resembles glass in appearance. The 

 vitreous layers of the skull are brittle like glass. 



Volar. Belonging to the palm or vola. 



Xyphoid. Sword-shaped. The third piece of the sternum is the xyphoid or ensiform 

 appendix. 



Zygoma. A yoke. The arch of bone at the side of the face formed by zygomatic 

 processes of frontal and maxillary bones. 



